THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS
by Carmen Willows
Summary: Updated with Author's note. Lily is having dream preminitions of her and James, Sirius is trying to win back the love of his life, and Remus has finally found someone. How will they face the challenges to come? PLEASE RR!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. The fabulous JK Rowling does. I LOVE HER!!!!!!!  
  
This is dedicating to my sister, Gabrielle, who was the first to read this.  
  
I would love to hear what you think. This is my first fan fiction story and I'm trying to decide if I should write more of it. It will get better, I promise!  
  
Chapter 1: The Beginning  
  
"Who's that?" an eleven-year-old girl asked, looking out of the compartment window on the Hogwarts Express. She had long, dirty blond hair that reached her mid back, and she had hazel eyes.  
"Gee, I don't know," replied her raven-haired friend next to her. This girl's hair was bushy, but still very lovely, and fell down just below her shoulders. She also had large, dark brown eyes and very pale skin. "Then again, we wouldn't know many people, as we're first years."  
"Ha, ha. Looks like she's looking for a compartment. Hey! Over here!" she called reaching out of the window.  
The redheaded girl turned around and, seeing someone waving to her, smiled. She gracefully strolled over to their compartment.  
"Do you mind if I sit with you? I got here a little late. I couldn't figure out how to get onto the platform, and there doesn't seem to be many seats left," she told them. This new girl had long red hair and bright green eyes.  
'She seems nice,' the raven-haired one thought. "Of course you can sit with us," she spoke out loud. "I'm Carmen, by the way. Carmen Willows. This is Morgan Fay." she nodded to the blond next to her.  
"I'm Lily Evans," the redhead spoke, taking a seat across from Morgan.  
"Why couldn't you get onto the platform?" Morgan blurted out.  
"Oh, I'm a muggle born. I thought that there might have been someone there to help some of us find it, but I guess not. I waited ages. Someone did eventually point me in the right direction." She smiled. "Are either of you muggle borns?" she asked, though she seemed rather embarrassed about the whole situation.  
"My mom is a witch, but my dad is a muggle," replied Carmen. "He didn't like the idea of Mom being magical. She told him after the wedding." They all laughed. "Well, when I was born, he wanted me to grow up 'normally' without knowing about magic. It wasn't until I was making books fly across the hall to me that he decided to tell me," she continued with a smile.  
"Both my parents are magical, though my mother is muggle born," Morgan said. Then glancing up at Lily she added, "But that doesn't matter at all. You know, I heard some guy boasting about how he's so 'above' everyone just because he's a pure blood. Honestly, I can't stand people like that. Slimy-haired git," she added.  
The three of them had a great deal of fun just joking around and predicting which houses they would be put into. They instantly became very close friends. Five minutes after the train departed from the station, however, there was a knock on the door.  
  
James Potter entered King Cross station at ten to eleven. He was running rather late today, and didn't feel like missing the train on his first day of school. Picking up the pace, he reached into his pocket and withdrew his ticket. "Platform 9 ¾," he said to himself. His parents had told him how to get onto the platform before dropping him off, so he knew exactly where he was going. "Let's see," he said counting. "Number eight.nine.te-OWF!" He had run smack into someone else's trolley. Both people were thrown to the ground. "Sorry." he began. He looked up and saw a girl. A stunningly pretty girl was pushing her dark red hair out of her bright green eyes. They both looked up at each other. "I-I'm really sorry about that. Are you alright?" he asked, helping her to her feet.  
"Yes, thank you," she replied politely. She bent down and picked up a small bit of paper. "Is this yours?" she asked, straightening up. She was holding his ticket.  
"Yea, thanks." He reached out for it just as she was reading 9 ¾.  
"Oh," her eyes widened. "Do you know how to get onto the platform?"  
"Hogwarts?" She nodded. "Follow me."  
Within two minutes they successfully made it onto the platform.  
"Thanks," the girl said. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."  
"James. James Potter," he answered.  
"Well, Miss Lily Evans says thank you, James." They both smiled and went their separate ways.  
James suddenly saw his two best friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, who were hastily discussing quiditch.  
"And then he dived and - hey, Potter!" Sirius yelled. "Haven't seen you all week."  
"Hi," he answered.  
"Why are you getting here so late?" Remus asked.  
"Were you going to miss the train and fly to Hogwarts on a broomstick? What an entrance that would be, and in your first year, too!" Sirius said.  
"I was just showing someone how to get onto the platform," he shrugged. They loaded their trunks onto the train and began looking for seats.  
"Well, this is just our luck. We'll have to look for one in the back." Sirius knocked on a compartment door and opened it. Inside were three of the prettiest girls he had ever seen. One redhead, one blond, and the last with dark brown hair. He was in awe. Apparently, Remus was thinking the same thing. He nervously said, "Sirius Black here."  
  
Three boys entered their compartment. "Excuse me, but may we sit here?" A boy with light brown hair spoke.  
'He seems nice,' Carmen thought smiling.  
"Sure," Morgan hastily said.  
As they sat down, the boy with light hair spoke, "I'm Remus Lupin. Sirius here has already introduced himself. And this is James Potter."  
"We've met," Lily answered with a smile. "I'm Lily Evans, and this is Carmen Willows and Morgan Fay."  
"Nice to meet you," they all said at once.  
"Is everyone here a first year?" James asked. Everyone looked around at each other.  
"Guess so," Lily answered through the silence.  
After a long and awkward pause, Sirius decided to resume his quiditch conversation with Remus. "Right, then. Anyway, Remus, Garbrader dived, and it was completely amazing! Then, he caught the snitch right before he hit the ground, and then."  
"Oh, are you talking about the World Cup?" Morgan suddenly asked.  
"Yea, do you play quiditch?" He asked.  
"Definitely. I'm a chaser."  
"Me, too," interrupted James. "At least I would like to be. What about you two?" he asked, nodding to the other girls.  
"Oh, I don't play quiditch," Carmen answered first. "I've read all about it though. I have dozens of books on the subject. It looks like so much fun."  
"It is," replied Sirius. "The wind streaking through your hair as you're reaching out to catch the golden snitch and-"  
"And a bludger hits you in the face," James replied laughing. "Don't worry, though. A lot of it is pretty safe," Remus spoke up seeing the horrified look on Carmen's face. "What about you, Lily?" James asked.  
"I've never played," she told them simply. "I still don't know much about the wizarding world, coming from a muggle family."  
They all rapidly began discussing this fabulous sport and filling Lily in on the way, of course.  
  
The six of them instantly became friends that day, merrily laughing and talking about what would happen in their first year at Hogwarts. They were just friends. However, five years later, it would all change. 


	2. Chapter 2: A New Year

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Harry Potter. My idol, JK Rowling, does. SHE IS SO GREAT!!  
  
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated once again to my sister, Gabrielle. This is also dedicated to sparkly purple dotz who was the first person to ever review my story. Thank you so much! You are fabulous.  
  
As you probably know, this is a romance. However, you, the readers, will influence who will fall for whom. I need your help! Should Remus fall in love with Carmen or Morgan? What about Sirius? Anyone from other houses? I have an idea, but I would like other's opinions. YOU get to help decide! Review and suggest! Thanks!  
  
Chapter 2: A New Year  
  
James Potter woke late one morning. He heard someone, probably Sirius, rummaging through his trunk and Remus brushing his teeth in the bathroom. They had arrived at his house two weeks ago and were staying until they went to Hogwarts. The sunlight streamed across the room. He didn't want to wake up. He blinked and light flooded in his eyes. He glanced at the alarm clock on his nightstand. It read 10 A.M.  
"Well look who's up," Sirius said, noticing that he was awake. "Moony and I were up at seven."  
"We thought you'd died and gone to heaven," Remus said from the bathroom.  
"I don't know if that's where he'd go after all of the stuff we did," Sirius laughed. "I donna know. Flooding the staff toilets is pretty serious."  
James blindly threw a pillow at him. "In case you forgot, Padfoot, that was your brilliant idea."  
"Oh, yeah. It was brilliant, wasn't it" he said smiling.  
" Guys, we should get going. We need to be at King Cross at eleven," Remus said. They were going to Hogwarts for their fifth year. Time really has flown. Each boy looked much older, though were, if possible, more immature than five years ago. James and Sirius were now both about 5'7 while Remus was 1 ½ inches shorter than them. The years that passed definitely made them look much older (A/N: and handsomer!).  
James reached for his glasses. Suddenly everything came into focus. He got up and started getting dressed. Once he'd put on jeans and a t- shirt, he attempted to flatten his hair. This was a battle that he was losing; his mirror told him so. His hair always stuck out at strange angles. He was famous for it.  
"Give it up, James," Sirius said.  
He put down his comb. "Yeah, well, you're just jealous that you can't pull this look off."  
"James!" his mother called from downstairs. "Breakfast!"  
"Coming!" he called. His barn owl, Antony, hooted loudly from the other side of the room. "I wrote to Lily. She's saving us a compartment on the train."  
"You know," Remus began, "I really missed those girls."  
"Me too," Sirius replied. "They always had a great sense of humor."  
"James!" Mrs. Potter called from downstairs. "We need to floo to the station in an hour!"  
"I'm coming!" he yelled back. "Come on guys." He took one last look in the mirror and went downstairs with Sirius and Remus.  
  
Morgan was combing her long, beautiful hair. It certainly seemed to have gotten blonder than it once was. Lily came into the room and Morgan looked up. Lily had arrived at her house four days ago. "So, what time are we supposed to be there?" Morgan asked her.  
"The train leaves at eleven, but James asked us to save him and the guys a seat so we should probably get there a little early."  
"Oh, we are just so nice. Carmen is meeting us there?"  
"Yup. It's too bad that she couldn't come this year," Lily replied. "Her dad just seems a little overprotective."  
"You know, she only came last year because the European Cup was in England. She had to beg her parents for ages just to come to my house," Morgan told her. "What classes are you taking?" "Divination and Study of Ancient Ruins. And you?" "Divination and Muggle Studies," she replied. Then she changed the subject. "So, are you looking forward to seeing anyone on the train, Lily?"  
"Maybe," she said, tilting her head.  
"Oh, come on. Who do you like?"  
"Well, if you really want to know. Do you know Andrew Page?"  
"The Ravenclaw?" Morgan asked with an air of surprise. Lily nodded. "Well, he's nice and everything, but.I don't know.he just doesn't seem your type."  
"What's wrong with him?"  
"Nothing," she shrugged giving up. She personally thought that Lily was perfect for Remus, but she knew that Lily would never consider him.  
"What about you?" she asked Morgan.  
"No one, thank you very much."  
"You know that all of the guys fawn over you."  
"Really.I haven't noticed," she sarcastically replied. "I don't care, though. If you want them, you can have them," she said strangely seriously. "Come on. Let's get ready."  
  
Carmen was sitting up in her bed reading like she does every morning. She was reading her favorite book, A Study of Ancient Charms. It was a rather interesting read. She had already read it six times through, along with all of her course books. As she finished chapter twenty ("The Great Accident of the Summoning Charm"), she closed the book and rested it on the table beside her bed. She'd be seeing her best friends in just a few hours. She couldn't stop thinking about it. She often compared Hogwarts to her home, and thought of her friends as family. She loved her real family, but she was never allowed to do many of the things she would like to, like going to friends houses for more than a day or stay up all night. But she loved her parents. Nonetheless, she had been counting the days until her return to school.  
"Carmie," her dad called from downstairs. "We need to leave in an hour."  
"Alright." She got out of bed and put on black pants and a deep purple shirt. She studied herself in the mirror as she brushed her hair. Her face had definitely gotten thinner. Her hair didn't change much except that long bangs now fell along the sides of her face. If she tilted her head a little that way, she was quite pretty, like a portrait. Morgan was always the beautiful one, though. Straightening her top, she thought 'I liked dressing nice, unlike most of the people at school who threw on a pair of wrinkled jeans and a tank top.'  
As she placed her brush on the bureau, she noticed a picture of her, Lily, Morgan, Remus, James, and Sirius. She smiled as she saw them wave at her. Sirius hit James on the back of the head and acted like it was an accident. She knew him better, though. She laughed as James silently yelled at him. Placing the picture into her trunk along with about twenty books, she thought out loud, "I missed you."  
  
Well, there's that chapter. Next chapter-on the train! Thank you so much to anyone reading my story and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review! It will get more interesting when they're together. I just needed to put something in for character development. Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up by the end of the week.  
  
Thank you again to sparkly purple dotz and AineRose for reviewing!  
  
I love the name Carmon Willows so much that I've decided that it's going to be my signature, but I'll still be writing under the name HermioneGranger. Thanks everyone!  
  
Carmon Willows 


	3. Chapter 3: On Platform 9 34

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters. The goddess JK Rowling does. Morgan Fay and Carmen Willows are mine, however.  
  
It's a little longer than the others, but I hope you like it! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!  
  
This chapter is dedicated to everyone who reads my story! Particularly sparkly purple dotz, AnieRose, and Gabrielle. Thanks.  
  
Chapter 3: On Platform 9 ¾  
  
Lily and Morgan arrived at King Cross station at ten forty. They soon found an empty compartment at the back of the train. After lugging their trunks into the compartment, they sank into their seats, breathing heavily.  
  
"Remind - me - to exercise -more," Morgan ordered Lily.  
"Come on. You play quiditch. You are a lot more active than me," she told her slumping back. It was true. She was the only one of the three girls who played for their house team.  
"That reminds me," Morgan said as she took her Shooting Star out of her trunk and began polishing it. "I need to make it look decent for the first match," she said when she saw the exasperated look on Lily's face. "So, what did you do this summer - before you came over to my house?"  
"My parents took me to France, actually," she told her. "It was so beautiful. You should have seen it. There was even a small wizarding village in Nice (A/N: That's in the south of France for those of you who didn't know) that we went to. I bought my dress robes there." She reached into her own trunk and pulled out stunning robes of green with gold stitching at the hems.  
"Oh, Lily," Morgan said sweetly. "They bring out your eyes so! Let's just hope there's a ball this year." The past few years, all possible balls have been canceled due to Peeves the poltergeist playing tricks, or werewolves invading the Great Hall, or any other reason no one would expect. "So, what else did you do?" she asked now polishing the handle.  
"Well, when we went to look at owls, my sister practically threw a fit. She doesn't seem to like the fact that I'm a witch. I care for her so much, but.I don't know." She sighed. Morgan kind of felt bad for her. Lily was one of the sweetest people that she knew.  
There was suddenly a knock on the door. They both looked up.  
"Oh, sorry. I thought this compartment was empty." A very handsome face appeared behind the door.  
"Andrew," Lily said jumping up and tossing her dress robes aside. "How are you? I haven't seen you for ages."  
"Lily," the Ravenclaw said smiling. "How are you? Did you have a good summer?"  
"Yeah, it was OK. How about you?"  
"It just got better," he replied.  
'Oh, God,' Morgan thought. 'She better not fall for that one.' But Lily smiled and looked down.  
"Well, I better get going. ('Thank God,' Morgan said to herself.) See you at school?" he asked.  
"Definitely," Lily answered as Andrew walked out and closed the compartment door. She turned to find Morgan looking at her with the familiar 'how-could-you-ever-fall-for-that' look plastered on her face. "What?"  
"Nothing." She stood up. "I'm going out for some air."  
  
As James, Sirius, and Remus crossed through the barrier onto Platform 9 ¾, they saw many faces that they recognized. Sirius and James were quite popular, so they waved to a few people here and there.  
"I'm going to look for the girls," Remus told them as James smiled merrily at a Gryffindor 4th year. Remus easily gets tiered of the Potter and Black Fan Club.  
"OK," Sirius replied. "Just don't fall in love on your way there." He nudged Remus with his elbow, smiled, and went to talk to some other friends.  
"Sure, Padfoot. That would really happen. Especially to - " not looking where he was going, he ran flat into someone. He managed to stay on his feet, but the girl had fallen. "Morgan!" he said recognizing her at once. "I'm sorry. Are you all right?" He lent out his hand to her.  
"Yes," she said gratefully taking it.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't look where I was going. How are you?"  
"I'm fine, Remus, and don't worry. It happens all the time. Are you coming back to the compartment now?" she asked.  
"What? Oh, yeah, I'll be there in a minute. In the back again?"  
"As always," she answered. "See you there." She smiled weakly and turned away. As she was walking down the side of the train, a Slytherin 6th year whistled at her. She turned to him, glared, flicked her hair, and continued walking.  
"Jerk," Remus muttered.  
  
When Remus left, James strolled over to two Ravenclaw 5th years. They were both very pretty, Sirius noticed. He walked down the sidewalk, looking for anyone worth talking to. A Slytherin girl who had bright blond hair almost casually walked over to him. He knew who she was right away. They had dated the year before, but he didn't think that it was working out, so they 'mutually' decided to break up.  
"Hey, Sirius," she said.  
"Er, Sally. Long time no see," he said.  
"So, how was your summer?" she asked, flipping her hair.  
"Good, how 'bout you?"  
"Fabulous. I went to Ireland. I wish you would have come with me. We could have had a grand time."  
"Sally, you know that I have.er.stuff to do here. I just don't have the time." He sighed. "Excuse me, but I really need to go. I'm meeting someone here." With that he left leaving Sally alone.  
Meanwhile, James was merrily chatting with Elizabeth and Natalie, the two Ravenclaws.  
"So then, in the quiditch finals in my second year, I scored no less than thirty-two goals," he told them proudly. "That game went on for eight hours."  
"I do hope that you can beat Slytherin again this year for the quiditch cup," Elizabeth told him.  
"I don't know," Natalie said before James could. "Ravenclaw is getting together a pretty good team this year. I'm keeper. We should be a match for Gryffindor."  
"I can't wait." He smiled. Natalie smiled back. 'She's so perfect,' he thought. 'She's smart and is great on a broomstick.' "Well, you'll have to excuse me ladies," he said seeing Sirius beckoning him behind the girls, "but I must be going. I'll see you later, Natalie?" She nodded, and as he left, he saw her giggling madly with Elizabeth.  
"What's up?" he asked as he reached Sirius. "I was talking with Natalie."  
"Yeah, I can see that. The train leaves in five minutes, in case you didn't know. I thought that we should probably find Remus and the others unless we want another incident like last year. I mean, missing the train and flying a stray phoenix to school was all well enough, but we lost 70 points from Gryffindor."  
"Oh, I don't know, Padfoot. I was hoping to ride a dragon this time." He laughed as they made their way to the back of the train.  
  
Carmen ran through the barrier that led to the platform ten minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. There was a lot more traffic than she expected on the car ride over, and she still had to find her friends. She dropped off her trunk near the luggage compartment holding the remaining books that didn't fit in her trunk. Looking through the windows for any sign of her friends, she stumbled over a lose brick on the floor. She managed to keep herself upright, but her books tumbled out of her hands. As she bent down to gather them, someone spoke.  
"Here, let me help you." She looked up and saw a pair of gray eyes looking into hers. "I'm Lucius. Lucius Malfoy, by the way. Your Camren, right?"  
"Carmen," she told him collecting her books. She knew Lucius. He was rather cute and was also very good at potions. They were the top two in their class.  
"Oh, right. You're the smart one in my potions class. I've never seen anyone as gifted as you."  
"Thanks," she said blushing and pushing her bushy hair out of her face. They both got to their feet.  
"So, I'll see you in the first potions class?"  
"Sure."  
They turned and walked away, both of them smiling. However, one face looked more menacing than the other.  
  
One by one (except in James and Sirius' case), the five other friends strolled into the compartment; Lily was waiting for them. They casually greeted each other with a nod or slap on the back here and there. Morgan was the last to enter, about twenty seconds before the train left the station.  
"Morgan!" Sirius leapt up. "How kind of you to grace us with your presence," he said bowing deeply. She gently pushed him backwards onto his seat.  
"So," James said, getting between them, "you ready for another exciting quiditch year?" Morgan and James were both chasers for the Gryffindor team. Everyone in the compartment was in the same house, by the way, but only the two played quiditch.  
"Of course," she replied, waving a hand. "This is going to be our best year ever. Most of the Slytherin players graduated last year." This was a surprise because all of them were failing several classes.  
"And you too are the best chasers Gryffindor's ever had. Better than Wood and Longbottom," Lily chimed in. Wood and Longbottom let Gryffindor to victory several times, but they graduated two years ago.  
Just then, the kind lady with the food trolley arrived outside their compartment. James ordered Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Cauldron Cakes all around, everyone very grateful. They soon began chatting away without a care in the world, and then -  
"Carmen," she looked up as Sirius spoke. "Who was that you were talking to before the train left? Isn't he a Slytherin?" The room went quiet.  
"I - I think so - but not that it really matters," she muttered. "It was Lucius Malfoy."  
"Carmen!" James and Sirius yelled at once. Remus, Morgan and Lily seemed too shocked to speak. Comments like, "He's a Slytherin!" "Not just any Slytherin. He's on their quiditch team!" "We're playing them in November!" and "Oh, I don't know, Carmen. I've heard terrible things about him," began echoing around the room.  
"Stop. Stop!" she yelled. "All he did was help me pick up my books. It's not like we're dating. If we ever were, which we NEVER (!!!) will," she added seeing their terrified faces, "I give you full permission to scream your heads off at me. OK?" She finished looking winded, yet she wore an exasperated smile on her face. "Besides, wasn't it you, Sirius, who was actually dating a Slytherin last year?" She nodded to him.  
Sirius bent his head and mumbled something that sounded like, "That's not the point."  
"You know, Carmen, we're just looking out for you," Lily kindly told her.  
"Harriet Ball told me what he did to her friend, Katherine. He asked her to one of the balls, and she got really excited and everything because he was - umm - 'so cute,' I think were HER words - and he showed up there with that Slytherin girl, Violet, and told her he never would dream of asking her. She cried for days." Morgan continued.  
"I'm not interested in dating him, alright? I've more important things to worry about. I'm a prefect this year and that should use up most of my free time," she told them.  
"Alright, you just don't want to go hanging out with scum like him - that's what you've got us for!" As everyone laughed with Sirius, the conversation was dropped.  
Several hours and earwax flavored beans later, someone knocked on their door. Andrew opened it and said, "Just thought I'd let you lot know, we're going to pull up to Hogsmead Station in twenty minutes." He turned to Lily. "Oh, by the way," he nodded to her, "could you meet me in the entrance hall after the sorting?"  
"Sure," she said turning almost as red as her hair.  
"Great. Well, bye then." The door closed behind him.  
"And what was that?" James asked her seriously.  
"Oh, that was probably her new boyfriend - from a different house," Carmen added scathingly. However, no one but her, Morgan and James seemed too concerned about this. No one said anything more on the subject. They all knew that Andrew was nice.  
"Can you three leave the compartment for a moment, please?" Lily asked the boys when the heat died down. "We do need to change into our robes."  
Morgan looked down at her muggle clothes. "I don't think they would let us in wearing this."  
As the boy exited, there was silence in the compartment. All three of them got out their black uniforms. Morgan hated the awkward silence. "Carmen, I'm sorry about what I said about Lucius. He seems nice. You can like him if you like."  
"It's fine," she said waving a hand and smiling. "I don't like him that way anyway. I told you, I have more important stuff to worry about." Turning to Lily, she said "And Lily, sorry about what I said before about Andrew."  
"Oh, don't worry about it. As you said, you have enough problems." She smiled and laughed a little. As she was straightening the bottom of her robes, she looked up and said, "Have you ever noticed that our fights never last longer than three hours?"  
They all laughed. "Well, I guess that's how good of friends we are," Morgan replied.  
"Girls, are you done yet?" Remus asked from the other side of the door.  
"Yes," Lily said opening it.  
"Could we get changed now?" James asked.  
"Be my guest," Morgan told him as the girls exited.  
"So what's up with you and Sally?" Remus asked pulling off his shirt when the door closed again.  
"That's been over for months," he said, "but she's still following me around."  
"Oh, maybe she misses her 'snuggle bunny,'" James said with a laugh. "Isn't that what she used to call you?"  
"You say one more word, Prongs, and I'll give you a black eye," he answered.  
"So," said James, giving up on that topic, "Who's going to be your next victim, I - I mean girlfriend? Hmm?"  
"I think I'm flying solo this year."  
"You know, I think that Carmen might like you," Remus spoke up.  
"Carmen? No way! She's a prefect! Do you know how many points I'd lose every day from her if I dated her? Never gonna happen. By the way, Moony, who do you like?"  
Remus turned away from them. He knew who he liked. He's known for a year now. He just wasn't ready to admit to anyone who it was. "No one," he answered simply. "So, finish telling me about the World Cup."  
  
When Lily, Morgan and Carmen entered the compartment once again, the train was pulling to a halt. The six of them walked out into the cold night air. Hundreds of horseless carriages were waiting to bring them up to the castle. They all squeezed into one together, despite the rules of four to a carriage; Carmen promised she wouldn't tell. All at once, they leaned their heads out of the small windows to catch a glimpse of the towering castle, just coming into view.  
  
~Thanks everyone! I hope you like it! Lots of Love, Carmen Willows 


	4. Chapter 4: Hats, Meetings and Dreams

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Sirius Black, James, Lily, and most of the other characters in this story.  
  
This chapter is dedicated to Devin Jamie. Thanks for that review! It really boosted my confidence! Please keep reading!  
  
Oh, I found out how to change my pen name! It is now officially Carmen Willows. It was once HermioneGranger, but I decided to be a little more creative.  
  
Chapter 4: Hats, Meetings and Dreams  
  
The carriages trotted to the great, oak front doors of the castle and came to a halt. Hundreds of students opened their carriages and walked into the chilly night air and up the stone stairs. As the doors were pushed open, a great sense of warmth and comfort came upon the entire crowd. They made their way through the Entrance Hall and entered the Great Hall. Immediately, their eyes darted to the magical ceiling. Like the sky outside, it was deep blue, darted with shinning silver stars.  
  
The six of them walked to the Gryffindor table, where golden goblets were glittering, and sat down. When everyone else was seated at their appropriate tables, several people looked across the hall. They were now only waiting for the first years that take their traditional journey across the lake on the grounds.  
  
"Much nicer weather for crossing the lake this year," Carmen said, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"Yeah, too bad we couldn't have had it this nice our first year," Remus responded.  
  
"Oh, but you can't call having the giant squid turning our boat over uneventful," Sirius said fairly. Everyone gave a small laugh. Just then, about fifty eleven-year-olds entered the room with Hagrid, the gamekeeper. "Ugg. This is going to be a long sorting," he said as Professor McGonagall brought the old, tattered Sorting Hat onto a stool. It sang a fantastic song this year, as always. When it finished, the entire hall broke out into thunderous applause. Then the sorting began.  
  
"Apple, Alexander," McGonagall said as she lifted the hat. Almost immediately, the sorting hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"  
  
"Ha!" yelled James to Sirius who had put his hand on his forehead. Every year they had a bet going about which house the first new student would get sorted into. Apparently, James had won.  
  
The sorting ceremony continued. "Newton, Susana" had just been sorted into Ravenclaw when Carmen began to think. 'You know,' she thought, 'I really don't care what they think. I mean, I'm not going out with Lucius (like he would ever want to), but I'm as shallow as Sirius. I don't think that what house someone is in matters when it comes to how nice they are.' She looked up. Lucius was looking at her from the other side of the hall. She instantly looked away and fixed her eyes on the last three people who were to be sorted.  
  
Finally, as "Walton, Rolena" was sorted into to Gryffindor, many hands were put together in anticipation for the feast. The headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, got to his feet to make the start of term announcements.  
  
"Welcome students and staff. I hope you have all had a good summer, relaxing and getting your brains nice and empty for the start of a brand new school year. First of all, the caretaker, Mr. Velcoff, would like to issue a few new rules, actually, seventeen total. This includes no messy candy and other such food are to be eaten in the quiditch stadium, no magic in the corridors are to be performed," he glanced at Sirius and James here who had been known to curse carpets, statues, and suits of armor into pulling students hair as they pass and many other tricks. Then he continued, "and several other rules. See the bullion board in your common room for the full list.  
  
"The first Hogsmeade visit for third years and older will be held on the third of October. Also, the first quiditch match will take place on November 15th. Ask house captains for information about openings on the team.  
  
"Next, I am very proud to announce that this year, on Christmas Eve, a ball will be held. This year, special precautions will be taken in order to make sure it actually occurs." At this he gave a smile. "This ball is open to fourth years and above. Dress robes are to be worn, and each student is allowed to invite a guest of their choice from any house and year.  
  
"Now, since I assume that you all must be famished from the train ride over, I will just say, 'Tuck in!'"  
  
The hall erupted into more cheers as the golden plates and goblets filled with the most wonderful food imaginable: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, pork chops, white rice, peppermint hamburgers ('Not as good,' everyone seemed to think together), and many more fabulous dishes. Everyone began to talk loudly to each other, filling the Great Hall with a great feeling of enjoyment. Deserts soon filled the plates; ice cream, cake, and chocolate truffles replaced the food. A while later, the remaining food evaporated from the plates. Dumbledore stood up once more.  
  
"No doubt you are all tiered and wanting to get to bed, so I will let you get on your way. Students, see your house prefects for the password to the common rooms. After the other students have left, prefects will escort the first years to the dormitories. Classes will start tomorrow. Now off you go!" Dumbledore finished.  
  
"What's the new password?" Morgan asked Carmen, standing up. Lily had already leapt from her seat, looking for Andrew.  
  
"Expellma Ulteria," she answered.  
  
"We'll pass the word along," Remus said to her.  
  
About three quarters of the hall exited through the great oak doors. "Gryffindor first years, follow me," Carmen said, her voice carrying across the table. She, too, lead them out of the hall and up to the common room.  
  
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Lily had quickly gotten up from the table. She was perhaps a little too overexcited about seeing Andrew. What had he wanted to talk to her about? She made her way to the entrance hall to find him waiting, pacing along the marble floor. He looked up seeing her and smiled.  
  
"Hi," he said.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Umm.I was just wondering. Us prefects get information about Hogwarts events early from the heads of houses, and.well.I was hoping that you would like to.umm.go to the first Hogsmeade visit.with me?" he asked rather quickly and nervously.  
  
"Oh!" she exclaimed with pleasure. This is what she was hoping for! 'Oh happy day!' she thought. Her chest swelled with excitement as her stomach gave an unexpected jerk. "Of course, Andrew. I would love to," she said trying not to let her voice give away how pleased she was.  
  
"OK." His face broke into a wide smile. "So, I'll talk to you later then?"  
  
"Sure," she said, smiling back.  
  
"Well, bye then." He waved and walked down a corridor to the right.  
  
Lily backed up against the wall and took a deep breath. This was the happiest day of her life.  
  
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"This is the Gryffindor common room. First year boys go up the stairs and to the left, while girls go to the right. Get a good nights sleep. You all want to be well rested for the first day of class tomorrow," Carmen told the first years once they had gotten to the Gryffindor tower. "Those first years are going to be a handful," she said to four of her friends, sinking into an armchair by the fire. "One of them wandered down a hall toward the North Tower. It took us a whole fifteen minutes to find him. Where's Lily?" she asked them, looking around.  
  
"Gee, I don't know," Morgan said.  
  
"She must still be talking with Andrew," Remus said.  
  
"Or maybe she doesn't know the password," Sirius chimed in.  
  
"Shall I go look for her?" James asked, getting to his feet. He soon left the common room in search for Lily. He made his way back down to the Great Hall.  
  
"Umm.I was just wondering. Us prefects get information about Hogwarts events early from the heads of houses, and.well." he heard a voice ahead of him say. He recognized it as Andrew Page's. Who was he talking to? He glanced across the hall, well hidden by the banister in front of him. He was talking to a girl with long, red hair. It was Lily. "I was hoping that you would like to.umm.go to the first Hogsmeade visit.with me?" he continued.  
  
"Oh! Of course, Andrew. I would love to," James heard her say. He was having a little trouble breathing, and his stomach dropped slightly. As the conversation ended and Andrew walked away, she leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.  
  
"Er.Lily?" James asked quietly from behind the banister. She jumped and turned to him.  
  
"Oh, James, I didn't know that anyone else was here."  
  
"Er.I just came to look for you," he said. He suddenly got the chills.  
  
"Oh. Okay. Well, shall we go up to the common room?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
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She was holding a small black-haired baby boy in her arms. Her bright red hair fell across the baby's face. While their hair contrasted greatly, their bright green eyes were exactly the same. Someone was sitting across from her reading, but she couldn't see who it was. He, like the baby, had dark hair. She looked up and smiled. "I love you," she mouthed.  
  
The person pulled the book away from his face. "I love you, too," he silently spoke. She recognized him now. It was James. She looked back down at the baby cradled in her arms and smiled.  
  
She glanced at the window. A horrible, pointed face appeared, looking in at them. She instantly felt her stomach collapse, and all of the air seemed to leave from her lungs. She felt like she was going to be sick. "James," she whispered. Seeing the strained and terrified look on her face, he turned to the window and leapt to his feet, pulling out his wand.  
  
Lily woke with a start. She sat straight up in bed and found that was sweating. She looked around frantically. She was in her dormitory. She hurriedly turned to the window. A fork of lightning flashed across the sky as rain pattered against it, but there was no twisted face.  
  
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~Well, I really hope you liked this chapter. Much more interesting stuff is going to start happening now that they're at Hogwarts. Did you like it? Please let me know! OK.Review..........................NOW! Lots of love! Carmen Willows 


	5. Chapter 5: A Time for Studies

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, but I bet you know who does!  
  
Dedication: Thank you soooooooooooo much Angel Food Cake! You are AWSOME!!!!! This one's for you!  
  
Sorry to those of you who read this chapter before. I decided to add a few things. I really hope you guys like this chapter. It took a long time to write this one. Many changes! Oh, last night I was up until one and decided exactly what is going to happen to each of the characters. I'm so excited! Please, if you're reading this, review! I would love to know what you think!  
  
Chapter 5: A Time for Studies  
  
Lily entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning at seven o'clock. She walked over to the Gryffindor table where her friends were already sitting and plopped down next to Morgan.  
  
"Hey, Lily," she said, buttering her toast.  
  
"You look really tiered," James told her from across the table. He also noted that she wasn't nearly as composed as she usually was. Her hair seemed limp, and it was as if she was fighting to keep her eyes open.  
  
"Yeah, well, I didn't get much sleep last nigh," she told them after a huge yawn. However, she didn't tell them what was really bothering her. She was sitting up in bed most of the night, thinking about her dream. She had seemed to be older in it; she had a family, a baby, and - James. In her dream, they had been married, with a child, no less, and - they had said that they loved each other. What did all this mean? Did she actually have feeling for James??? 'No,' she told herself. She couldn't possibly like him. Not James, the popular, clever quiditch player that all of the girls were crazy for. She couldn't like him. Could she?  
  
She looked up at James and met his eyes. He smiled, and she returned it before hastily putting her head back down.  
  
And who was that figure in the window? Just his face seemed so ominous and terrifying. Then there were his eyes, evil and blood red. She got the chills just thinking about it. She surly didn't know who it was, but what did it all mean? Perhaps it was all just a bad dream? 'That was it,' she decided. 'What else could it be?'  
  
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James looked at her and smiled. She grinned weakly and looked at her plate. His stomach felt rather unpleasant, so he pushed his plate away. "I'm going for a walk," he said as he stood up.  
  
"Okay. Meet me back in the common room later, and I'll give you your course schedule. Lessons start at eight thirty," Sirius called to him as James went out of the hall.  
  
"God, what is wrong with me!" he yelled when he got outside.  
  
"Gee, I don't know," answered a voice from behind him. He turned around. It was Natalie. He smiled.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't know anyone else was here." He suddenly felt better now that she was here. "So how are you?"  
  
"I'm fine. What class do you have first?" she asked.  
  
"I donna know."  
  
"Well, I have Care of Magical Creatures. You take that, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Are all houses in that class?"  
  
"Yup. They decided to group them together due to a lack of interest. Apparently, a lot of people dropped the class after last years fire- breathing toads," she said with a flick of her hair. "Listen, James, I wanted to ask you - " before she could finish, a gust of wind blew against them. It caused her to lean a little into him.  
  
'Did she do that because of the wind, or on purpose?' he asked himself. Then, out loud, he said, "Sorry, what were you saying?"  
"Yes, I was just wondering. Are you going on the trip to Hogsmeade?"  
  
'Hogsmeade,' he thought. Of course he would be going, but he hadn't been planning on actually going with anyone. Then, he looked at her. Her brown hair flew wildly about her face. She was very pretty. "Of course I am. That reminds me. Would you like to go with me?"  
  
"I'd like that." She smiled showing white, even teeth. She looked down at her tiny, silver watch and exclaimed, "Oh my! It's already eight! Classes will start in half an hour. I need to go get my books. See you in a minute?"  
  
"Yeah. Hold on, I'll walk you up." They made their way back to the castle.  
  
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A barn owl swooped into the hall and dropped a newspaper onto Carmen's plate. She opened it and revealed the Daily Prophet with a headline that stated, "Auror killed by You-Know-Who." Carmen frowned.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, taking a bite of toast.  
  
"Well, I've heard of You-Know-Who. He's a dark wizard who tried to gather followers about three years ago. He started off with muggle killings, and now, I guess, he's up to killing Aurors that might try and stop him from getting too much power." Everyone looked at her in awe.  
  
"Where did you learn that? We never learned anything about that in Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
  
"Well, my mum is an ex-Auror. She retired last year after sending some of his supporters to Azkaban. I heard her talking to my dad about it," she finished.  
  
"How come you never told us this before?" Remus asked.  
  
"Well, it never came up," she told them simply.  
  
"So, what classes have we got today?" Lily asked Morgan, changing the subject. Professor McGonagall was passing out the schedules along the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Well, I have Muggle Studies. Then we have Divination together," she told her, reading her timetable and making a face.  
  
"Great, just what I need today." Lily and Morgan both hated Divination for a simple reason - Professor Opaelle made it a habit to predict Lily's death. They knew that it was nothing, however, because half of the predictions that she makes never came true. She had once said that someone very close to Lily and Morgan would suffer a very tragic end. That was in their third year, and nothing out of the sort ever happened. "Well, that should be interesting."  
  
"I wonder what's going to kill you this year," she said with a smile. "Maybe - you'll chock on tea leaves!" Everyone laughed.  
  
"Well, let's get going," Remus said, looking at his watch.  
  
"Yeah, another first day of school for us to put up with," Sirius said getting up.  
  
"As soon as you know it, we'll be eighty wishing it was the first day of school," Carmen told him with a grin. Everyone got up and exited the hall.  
  
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Remus was at his desk in the Muggle Studies classroom, waiting for class to begin. He was rather ambitious and liked doing well in school. He did so well the year before, he was offered to be a prefect. However, he turned it down. 'What would James and Sirius think?' was his reply.  
  
The room slowly filled with gathering Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Ten seconds before class started, Morgan ran into the room, looking around for a seat. She saw Remus and sat down in the empty seat next to him. "Hi," she said to him, putting her long, golden hair behind her ears.  
  
"Hi. Glad you could - " he began, but Professor Kerk cut him off.  
  
"Grace us with your presence, Miss Fay," he continued for Remus. "Be sure to be on time. Class, this year, we will be learning about the Muggle Space Program. This is a corporation designed to explore other planets besides our own. Wizards, of course, have mapped the entire universe, but muggles are still working on it. Take notes."  
  
Everyone instantly reached into their bag for quills and parchment. The very boring lecture of the Russian Space Program and NASA was soon underway. After about forty-five minutes of listening and scribbling, they were assigned a three-role essay on space shuttles.  
  
"Homework on the first day back," Morgan groaned.  
  
'It's not so bad,' he thought, looking at her. Her hair seemed more radiant than ever in dim lighting of the room. She stuck out her tongue a little as she wrote down the assignment. Her pale hazel eyes traveled through her notes. Some would have said that she wasn't perfect, but he didn't mind one bit.  
  
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"H - Hi," James panted after running into the common room. He had seen Sirius sitting in an armchair and walked straight to him. "Just realized what time it was. We have Care of Magical Creatures, don't we?" He asked, putting his hands on his knees.  
  
"Yeah. Well, what are you waiting for? Go get your books. We need to be back down there in ten minutes."  
  
"Okay. Give me a sec."  
  
Soon afterwards, they were sprinting across the lawn to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where the classes were always held. James saw Natalie and hastily tried to flatten his hair. She grinned. Just as he was strolling over to her, Professor Adamson announced, "Today, class, we will begin to learn about cazerbies. Be careful; they are highly dangerous. They can shoot flames at a distance of seven feet." James suddenly had the impression that Professor Adamson had a very serious obsession with fire.  
  
Due to the fact that all of them were desperately trying not to get burned by the disgruntled cazerbies (which, by the way, had been locked up in crates for they past three days), none of them got the chance to talk. At the end of class, however, all of the students made their way up the slope to get ready for their next class. Natalie approached James and took his arm. They didn't talk, but simply enjoyed the moment.  
  
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A half an hour after the first lessons ended, Lily and Morgan were sitting in squishy armchairs in the back during Divination. They hated sitting in the front because they were more likely to be targeted by Professor Opaelle and her 'fortune telling' being so close to her.  
  
"Welcome, class," said a misty and raspy voice from a corner of the room. "This semester, we will be learning about the extraordinary power of dream premonitions." At these words, Lily looked up. Dream premonitions? Is that what her dream was? "These are very complex and very rare. I doubt that any of you have or ever will get the privilege of possessing one. However, I feel it necessary that you should have an understanding of this topic. We will touch on it briefly before we move on to tarot cards."  
  
They spent the rest of the period reading a chapter in Unfogging the Future while Lily wondered whether her dream was actually real, or not. Lily looked at her with an odd expression. Should she ask Professor Opaelle about her dream? She probably wouldn't know much about it, but who knows? It was worth a shot. Then again, if she told her about the horrible figure in the window, she would most likely have a field day of Lily's death. She'll probably say that she's seeing the moments before her death. There would be no point to that. Professor Opaelle would tell the entire class. She doesn't want a rumor of her and James floating around the school. 'Perhaps I'll just find out on my own,' she decided.  
  
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Sirius, Remus, and Carmen were in the Arithmancy classroom. Carmen was in front row, center while the two boys had chosen seats in the back. Professor Gwen, a very strict witch, entered the room. "All right class. Welcome back. We have a lot to catch up on in order to understand the next few lessons, so who can fill out this chart?" she asked, pointing at a large diagram on the chalkboard.  
  
Instantly, Carmen's hand shot up into the air. Sirius looked at her and smiled. He quickly took it off his face, though. He didn't want Remus to see him smiling at Carmen like that. He had been doing a lot of thinking about something his friend said to him on the train. 'You know, I think that Carmen might like you,' Remus had told him. He instantly dismissed it, but what if he did like her? It seemed almost impossible. They were completely different. She was a prefect and he was a troublemaker who held the record for number of rules broken (87). But - she was pretty, and very smart, and witty, and - he suddenly looked over at Remus. He had a strange feeling that someone was watching him. It wasn't so strange because Remus was looking at him. Perhaps he had seen him staring at Carmen because he hurriedly looked down at his notes.  
  
Sirius was about to tell Remus off about not looking at him like that, but Professor Gwen just assigned them a huge homework assignment. "But why do we need so much homework. It's our first day back?" Sirius called to her, apparently outraged. Several others nodded their heads.  
  
"Because, Mr. Black, you will take your O.W.L.s at the end of the year. You need to be prepared. Frankly, I see only one person in this entire room who would get a decent grade on them if we were taking them right now. Now, sit and get to work."  
  
Sirius knew that she was talking about Carmen, and he gave a small smile, that no one else could see, at the thought.  
  
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~Well, I hope you guys like it. Thanks for all of the fantastic reviews! Keep 'em up! Stay tuned! Next chapter will be up soon!  
  
Carmen Willows 


	6. Chapter 6: Kings and Kindness

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, though it would be really cool if I did because then everyone would read my stories! However, the fabulous, amazing, brilliant, talented (could go on forever) JK Rowling does.  
  
Dedication: Tinkerbellhp07, this chapter is dedicated to you! I decided to add in a little 'L/J fluff.' Don't worry, there's much more to come, but don't forget that they're already both going out with Ravenclaws! Also, there are 4 other main characters that are just as important. Lots of stuff happens to them, too!  
  
Well, I hope everyone likes this chapter. I think it's very cute. Thanks!  
  
Chapter 6: Kings and Kindness  
  
That night at dinner, James approached the Gryffindor table, where the others were already seated, and slammed his books down. "Johnson can't play."  
  
Morgan gasped, chocking on her pumpkin juice. "What?!?"  
  
"Yeah, that's what I said. He broke his wrist playing football or some bloody muggle game. He didn't get it fixed in time so it healed all funny. So now he has to work on actually using it. He couldn't catch a quaffle if his life depended on in." He roughly sat down in an empty seat next to Remus. He put both elbows on the table and gripped his hair, muttering to himself.  
  
"So what are we going to do?" Morgan asked with a great deal of concern.  
  
"Well, we don't have a reserve keeper, so we'll have to have tryouts," he exclaimed with a groan. He couldn't help but remember two years ago when they were looking for a new seeker. Every second year that couldn't fly showed up. I took hours to find a decent seeker in the crowd. However, they did find the perfect player - Velma Watson. At least she was all right.  
  
"You'd have to have them soon because the first game is in November," Remus added. "Then, you also have to train them."  
  
"Which, knowing me, will be a disaster," James shot back.  
  
"Come on, now. You are the best captain this team has ever had," Lily said, trying to cheer him up.  
  
"Yeah, spanking good chaser, too," Sirius spoke up.  
  
He smiled weakly. "So, I guess I'll announce it after dinner. We can have tryouts this weekend."  
  
That night, in the common room, James stood on top of one of the tables, and shouted (he had to, to make his voice heard of all of the babble), "Everyone, listen up. There is a position of keeper available on the Gryffindor quiditch team." At this, several people began to whisper excitedly, and a few giggling girls could be heard over them. "Tryouts," he continued, "will be held on Saturday at on o'clock. Bring your own brooms, if you have them." With that, he leapt off of the table and turned to Morgan. "I hope we can find someone in time."  
  
Several uneventful days of lessons passed, that is, of course, if you can say that Peter, one of their other friends, blowing up a cauldron in potions is of no importance. Then, there was also the fact that Carmen could have sworn (A/N: though I don't think she ever would) that Lucius was staring at her through the corner of his eye all lesson. Finally, the weekend came, leaving time for everyone to do their homework, tryout for quiditch, or just sit around in the common room eating.  
  
On Saturday morning, nearly everyone slept in. However, only James could notice this because he was up at six, awaiting the auditions. How would they ever find a good player and teach them all of the complex plays before the first match?  
  
One by one, the Gryffindor occupants awoke and slowly drifted down to the common room. Lily came down first. When she saw James, she gave a small smile. She sat down in an armchair across from him. "What are you doing up so early?"  
  
"Just nerves I guess." However, he didn't ask her why she was up.  
  
They didn't say much to each other after that. James noted that she was sitting unusually upright. She began to fiddle with her fingernails. James, meanwhile, was bobbing his foot up and down, staring at the fire. "So," they both said at once. Wide smiles spread across their faces.  
  
"Sorry, you first," James told her.  
  
"Well, I was just wondering.would you care for a game of chess?"  
  
"I was about to ask the same thing." He began setting up his new wizard's chess set. Soon the game was underway. James took nearly half of her pieces in the first five minutes. 'She's not very good at chess,' he thought. So, he decided to let her take a few of his pieces - two pawns, a bishop, a castle, and a knight, to be exact.  
  
When she would take one of his players, she would exclaim with triumph, "Ha," and end with a little laugh.  
  
'Is he letting me win?' was the question that was in her head. 'Well, we'll see about that.'  
  
'She's so nice,' he thought. He noticed the way that she bit her lip a little when she concentrated. 'Wait, what are you thinking?' a voice inside his head said. 'Your going to Hogsmeade with Natalie. This obviously isn't Natalie in front of you.' He shook his head. Lily had just taken his queen. He hadn't realized what he was doing. She was better than he thought.  
  
He looked up into her deep eyes. She looked back. They sat there for a moment, just as they were. They both jerked their heads away almost immediately as the word 'Ravenclaw' floated through their minds. "Checkmate," James said, moving his last castle. They both gave a small smile.  
  
Just then, Remus and Sirius came down. Remus cleared his throat loudly, looked around and said, "Where's Morgan and Carmen?"  
  
"Oh, they weren't in the dormitory when I woke up," Lily answered, looking around the almost empty common room.  
  
"Maybe they were nervous, too, and went to the Great Hall early?" Sirius asked, helpfully.  
  
"Maybe. Well, would anyone like breakfast?"  
  
They approached the Gryffindor table when they entered the Great Hall, but there was no sign of Morgan or Carmen. They decided to begin eating, figuring that they'll have to come to breakfast sometime. As James was fiddling with his porridge, Carmen strolled into the hall and took a seat next to Sirius. "Sorry, I was in the library," she told them simply.  
  
"You were in the library? Doing what?"  
  
"Sirius, what do you usually do in a library?"  
  
"Sleep?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders in a joking manner.  
  
"Yes, I was sleeping in the library," she said sarcastically. "I was finishing Professor Gwen's assignment."  
  
"What? That's not due until next Tuesday."  
  
"Well, some of us would rather get things done so they have more free time later," she told him raising her eyebrows.  
  
"What free time? You never do anything fun."  
  
"Yes, I do. I - I finished the book Les Miserables last week. That was fun." Then, seeing the look on his face, she added, "Plus, I go to Hogsmeade on the weekends, sometimes."  
  
"We need to get some more fun into your life," he told her simply, and began to eat his bacon.  
  
"Do you know where Morgan is?" Remus asked her, hastily changing the subject.  
  
"Yes, she's in the library. She's been there for a while," she answered, not looking at Sirius.  
  
"That reminds me," Lily began, "I need to do some research."  
  
"I'll come with you," Remus said, already on his feet.  
  
When they entered the library, Lily walked towards a row of books in the Divination section and waved goodbye to Remus. He went off to look for Morgan through the other shelves of books. After several minutes of searching, he saw her, sitting alone at a table in a dark corner. A few books were spread around a roll of parchment that she had been writing on. "What are you doing way back here?" he asked approaching her. She looked up. She seemed to be very strained.  
  
"I can't concentrate when there's windows around. Outside seems so much more inviting than this." She frowned looking down at her paper. "I've been up since five, and I still can't understand this NASSA stuff for Muggle Studies."  
  
He sat down next to her. "Do you need any help?"  
  
She looked at him with a puzzled look. "You would do that?"  
  
"Of course. Why not?"  
  
"Well - never mind." There hasn't ever been a boy who wanted to help her who actually had good intentions. She knew Remus too long to expect anything but good things from him, but she didn't tell any of this to him. "I would love some help. That is - if you're free?"  
  
"I've nothing to do for the rest of the day."  
  
She sighed and smiled at him with a very welcoming and grateful look. He opened a book to a different page and began explaining space ships to her. After an hour, she perfectly understood everything that they had gone over and more. Remus was impressed.  
  
"You know, you're smarter than others give you credit for," he told her.  
  
"Well, it helps when you have someone who is willing to give up a Saturday morning to help a friend." She smiled. 'Remus isn't bad,' she thought.  
  
~Who will be the new keeper? What new relationships will develop? Is anyone brave enough to admit them? What will happen if they do? There are thousands of questions. The answers will come.  
  
Would you like a chapter dedicated to YOU??? All you have to do is review. Tell me what you think is going to happen, your favorite characters, or your overall view of my story. I'm DYING to know!!! I need more reviews!!!!!!!  
  
Thank you so much to the people who have already reviewed. I'm glad you like my little story!  
  
I really hope that you liked this chapter. Next is most likely quiditch tryouts!  
  
Carmen Willows 


	7. Chapter 7: New Discoveries

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Darn.  
  
Dedication: Here's to my top reviewers, Tinkerbellhp07 and Devin Jamie. Hope to hear from you about this chapter. I love your support!   
  
Hi everyone. Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been so busy, but I took the time to write this chapter. I really hope you didn't give up on me. Thank you so much to everyone who reads my story! Well, here we go. Keeper tryouts! Yeah!  
  
Chapter 7: New Discoveries  
  
At twelve fifteen, James anxiously made his way down to the quiditch pitch. He grabbed several school brooms from a shed nearby before entering the actual stadium.  
  
"Hey, James! Wait up!" Someone was calling to him from the front of the school. Sirius' figure soon approached him. He was wearing bright red and gold robes (a kind of bad impression of the quiditch uniform) and was carrying a broom.  
  
"Sirius, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, what do you usually do in a quiditch stadium with a broomstick? I'm trying out of course," he said tossing his broom into his other hand.  
  
"Yeah, but I thought you wanted to be a seeker."  
  
"Well, I missed tryouts for that two years ago, and quiditch is quiditch." He shrugged. "Keeper's not that bad," he added.  
  
"What are you wearing?" James asked, surveying Sirius' mock quiditch robes.  
  
"Oh, this old thing?" he said, pulling on the front of them. "Well, I just thought that in case your forgot that I'm your best friend, I thought that showing house pride might help get the spot."  
  
"You're good, Sirius, and if you're the best, you got it, but if some second year comes along, blocking every shot, then - well, sorry, Padfoot, but you'd be on your own - best friend or not. You could try out for the Slytherin team, though. I hear they're looking for some new players, and with that outfit, they'd think you're insulting Gryffindor, and gladly give you any position you want!" Of course, he said this last part very sarcastically. Sirius punched him in the arm. "Well, let's go. Grab a few quaffles for me?"  
  
Thirty seconds later, they entered the vast field that was surrounded by the towering stands that sported the house colors. Three golden hoops gleamed from either end of the playing field. This is where James thought that he truly belonged. When he was here, nothing mattered but the roar of the crowd and the wind sweeping against his face.  
  
As James began to run through the audition process one more time, several third years came onto the field looking rather excited. After that, a few sixth years appeared here and there, and even, to James' dismay, several nervous looking second years. It was ten to one when the last few students entered.  
  
"Well," James shouted importantly as one o'clock approached, "welcome to quiditch tryouts. As you already know, there is one position currently open on the team. I am looking for a skilled keeper. Be prepared for harsh training and hard work. Anyone who thinks that they can't handle that, leave now because you wouldn't be worth the time." A few people looked hesitantly around at each other, but none of them budged. "Good. Let's get started.  
  
"First, I want to test your flying skills. Everyone, grab your brooms. If you don't have one, you may use one of the school's. Now mount your brooms and fly a few laps around the pitch. Go." Sirius and the other participants mounted their brooms and kicked off from the ground. They soared through the air and began to race in an oval around the stadium. Sirius was definitely the best flyer there. He daringly traveled at breakneck speed and even weaved in and out of the higher stands. He added a long, amazing, nerveless dive at the end. There were a few other decent flyers, the captain noted, but none as impressive as him.  
  
When Sirius leaned his broomstick down to land, so did many of the others. However, one third year did another half a lap before realizing that everyone else was already safely on the ground. When he landed, James spoke again. "Now, I want you to practice blocking goals. I'll act as chaser and attempt to score. In any way that you know how, I want you to stop me. First, let's have - "  
  
"Sorry that I'm late. What did I miss?" Someone had just cut him off in the middle of a sentence. He turned to see who it was. The first thing he noticed about the person was her red hair shimmering in the sun.  
  
"Lily, are you trying out?" He squinted his eyes a little at her. He never knew that she actually played quiditch.  
  
She nodded in response to the question. "Well, yeah. Why not? It looks like fun." She tilted her head a little to the right. Her eyes caught the sun's rays and they sparkled as she did this.  
  
"Fine. Let's see you fly."  
  
"Could I borrow a broom?"  
  
James tossed her his. "Let's see what you've got." With a swish of her hair, she mounted her broom and soared upward. She effortlessly flew about the stadium, doing a few quick loops here and there. She seemed to do it so confidently. All of a sudden, she sharply turned around and zoomed off to the other end. She was a good flyer. Her skills were equal to that of Sirius, in fact. As she landed on the soft ground, James looked at her in a new way, almost in awe. "Lily - I had no idea you could fly."  
  
"Well, you learn something new every day."  
  
"So, let's continue," he said, shifting his focus. "Like I said before, you are now going to try to block shots. Lily," he turned to her once more, "you go first. Let me borrow your broom, Sirius." As she speeded to one set of golden hoops, James took off to the other end of the field with a quaffle. All at once, he took off like a bullet, turning here and there, a strategy very specific to that of the Ravenclaw players. When he got right up close to her, he zigzagged left but threw the quaffle to the right hoop. With lightning fast reflexes, she caught the ball milliseconds before it when through.  
  
"Lucky catch," Sirius said, underneath his breath. James, on the other hand, seemed impressed.  
  
"Okay, let's try another." They went back to their original positions. This time, James began by spiraling upward. When he approached the hoops, he dived down, and threw with all of his might. Seeing what he was doing, Lily executed a perfect Starfish and Stick and grabbed the ball just as it reached her stomach. 'Wow,' was all James could think of.  
  
"Good job, Lily. Now come back down." He motioned her to the ground with a huge grin on his face. When they landed, Lily returned his broom, and James gave Sirius his. "Sirius, you're next." Immediately, he hopped on his broom and the bright red figure streaked off to the other end of the field. He was determined to show James exactly what he could do.  
  
James, meanwhile, grabbed the quaffle and kicked off from the ground. He hung in midair for a moment, and then blasted toward Sirius performing the Woollongong Shimmy. This keeper, on the other hand, daringly decided on the Double Eight Loop. A few seconds later, he successfully blocked the shot. James nodded to him with yet another broad grin smacked on his face. Sirius was a little put out, though, having only one go at guarding the goals. Nonetheless, he didn't complain and soon landed.  
  
"Okay," James said with a wildly enthusiastic look. "You," he pointed to a second year, "you're up." Once again, two brooms took flight.  
  
'What exactly was going on in his mind?' Sirius thought as he watched.  
  
This was still a little fuzzy for James, himself. Although he asked nearly everyone else to try and stop him from scoring at least one goal, he already knew who the best two flyers were - but who to pick. Lily was very quick and had great reflexes. Sirius, on the other hand, had a completely different style. He was extremely alert and James knew that if he asked, Sirius would jump broomless from the stands to keep the other team from winning. Still. James sighed. What was he going to do? They were complete opposites. He had a sudden idea.  
  
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"So, how's Sirius?" Courtney Simon asked. She was sitting on a large leather couch in the dimly lit Slytherin common room. Her best friend, Sally Himms, was seated across from her, picking her nails.  
  
"He's good. I just saw him yesterday," she lazily replied. It was two o'clock in the afternoon, and it seemed as though there was nothing at all that was worth their time.  
  
"Are you two still going out?"  
  
"What do you think?" She sneered at her a bit. "Of course we are," she told her seriously, raising her eyebrows.  
  
"You know, rumor has it, you two broke up the end of last year." Courtney was always big on gossip.  
  
"We just went to Ireland together. What does that tell you?" She began to play with her bright blond hair.  
  
Courtney shrugged. Just then, someone came through a stone passageway. He had black hair that was sleeked back and very prominent facial features. Courtney must have known him very well because she jumped up at the sight of him. She ran across the room and threw her arms around him. The next thing she knew, their lips were locked. Sally glared at them - for a long time. The kiss lasted nearly a minute. When they finally pulled away, Courtney said, "Severus, I missed you." She threw back her hair. "Why didn't I see you at the feast?"  
  
"Oh, well, Professor Nampt wanted to discuss a new truth potion that was just discovered. He wanted to know my opinion," he told her proudly.  
  
"You are just - (kiss) - so - (kiss) - smart." It was true. Severus was brilliant when it came to potions. He was, for certain, the top student in that class, perhaps even better than Carmen Willows. However, he knew he was good. This is what kept him from getting the top grade. Eventually, he just stopped trying. He very much liked the in dept conversations with his professor, though.  
  
"I've got to go up to my dorm now. Lucius and I got stuff to do. I'll see you later, though, right?"  
  
"Of course," she smiled. With one last kiss, he went down the stairs to the boy's dormitory. Sally turned to look at the fire.  
  
"So," Courtney sat down again, "what else is new?"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Where's James?" Sirius said. It was five o'clock, and James still wasn't back yet. He had gone to the library straight after tryouts and hadn't been seen since. The other five were sitting near the fire in common room.  
  
"He was still in the library when we left, and that was an hour ago," Morgan told him.  
  
"Well, he better hurry up, whatever he's doing. I want to know what he decided."  
  
"Me, too," Lily spoke up. She had been sitting on the floor near the fire, reading a book with Carmen. Actually, she wasn't reading. She couldn't concentrate; she was just as anxious as Sirius.  
  
Seconds after she said this, James entered the room. He looking around, and when he saw them, a mad grin appeared on his face again. "Been doing some research," he nodded as he came to them. "Just finished."  
  
"So do we get your decision now?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"No. I think I'll wait for another few hours."  
  
"Have you decided, though?" Lily asked, looking up at him. Butterflies were turning in her stomach.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, then tell us already!" Sirius spat.  
  
"Okay, okay. Ladies and gentleman," he said running to a table and jumping on top of it. The room went quiet. "I would like to thank the several people who tried out for the keeper. You were all excellent, but I couldn't pick everyone. I know you're all awaiting my choice so here I go." Several people held their breath. "I am very proud to announce that this position is awarded to - "  
  
~ Bum, bum, bum! Want to find out who it is? That's in the next chapter. Who do you think it is? I'd love to hear even though I've already decided. What do you think of Sally now? Oh, I don't like her. Just review!  
  
Thank you to everyone for reading. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Love, Carmen Willows  
  
PS. Devin Jamie, to change your pen name, just log in and go to settings. There is a section there where you can change it. Thanks!  
  
Another PS. 20 days left till Order of Phoenix! 


	8. Chapter 8: The Keepers

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
Dedication: This is for all of my reviewers who were outraged that I ended the last chapter before James announced the new keeper (Strawberry and Musicizdbest).  
  
~Hey everyone. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. It's been such a busy week. I'll be updating more often now. Please don't give up on me!!! Well, here's the next chapter. You find out who gets to be keeper! I really hope you like my decision!  
  
Chapter 8: The Keepers  
  
Ladies and gentleman," James said running to a table and jumping on top of it. The room went quiet. "I would like to thank the several people who tried out for keeper. You were all excellent, but I couldn't pick everyone. I know you're all awaiting my choice so here I go." Several people held their breath. "I am very proud to announce that this position is awarded to -," he paused here for a dramatic affect. "- Sirius Black and Lily Evans."  
  
Nearly everyone in the room directly turned to look at the two of them. Sirius and Lily were staring openmouthed at James who was beaming down at them. At once, they turned to face each other. A few seconds later, their faces broke out into wide, ecstatic, yet confused smiles. One or two people applauded politely, but stopped almost immediately. Someone in the back of the room had shouted, "What? Two keepers? What are you playing at?"  
  
To everyone's surprise, James gave a little laugh. "I know. It's all part of my new strategy. I've been in the library, researching. You CAN train two separate keepers, but you can't have them both on the field at once or in the same game. Someone tried to have two play at the same time in 1867 during some Scotland game, and there had to be an official rule made. Anyway, Sirius and Lily here have completely different flying styles. All we have to do is not let any of the other houses know which one will be playing for different games, and we're set. They won't be fully prepared for either of them and have a hard time scoring. We'll have the best chance of winning the cup."  
  
He nodded his head and smiled while everyone in the room was thinking it over. Sirius suddenly stood up and started clapping, shaking his head. Before he knew it, everyone in the entire tower was applauding. A few people whistled loudly. James took a deep bow and stepped down from the table.  
  
"So what do you think?" he asked his two new keepers. "Will you both play?"  
  
"James, of course we will. Fabulous idea, by the way," Lily told him with a smile.  
  
"Best plan yet," Sirius chimed in.  
  
"Great. Practices will start tomorrow at seven. I suggest that you both get some rest," James told them, delighted that they were so keen on the idea.  
  
"Seven? In the morning?" Sirius said with a groan. "But - that's when - I sleep. I'm telling you, it better be worth it," he added jokingly.  
  
"Of course it will. See you all in the morning." With that, James walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitory.  
  
"So, what do you really think of the plan? You don't mind us sharing a position, do you?" Lily asked Sirius, who sat back down. He was apparently ignoring James' advice of going to bed early. "I'm perfectly okay with it. I just wanted to make sure that you are."  
  
"Yeah, of course. Quiditch is quiditch," he replied. "Besides, it won't be too bad. We might even win the cup. Think of the fame, the glory!" he spoke with much over exaggeration. "Seriously, though, I'm really excited. It'll be great." He smiled.  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed," she announced.  
  
"I'll come with you. I have to be at practice then, too," Morgan added, getting up from an armchair.  
  
"See you all tomorrow." And she left.  
  
"So, Carmen, what cha reading?" Sirius said, shifting his focus.  
  
"Oh, this?" She held up a thick book that was spread out across her lap. "It's about the creation of dangerous magical creatures. I'm just to the part where they're talking about the appearance of the basilisk. It's very interesting."  
  
"And what class is that for?"  
  
"Oh, it's just for fun," she said, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
"For fun? When I read for fun, I - well, I don't."  
  
"You know, Sirius, it wouldn't hurt you to try something new and pick up a book every once in a while," she said frowning.  
  
"Okay, fine, I'll try." He stood up and roughly grabbed the volume from Carmen's hands. Almost instantly, he fell backwards onto an armchair. He threw the book aside exclaiming, "It hurts! It hurts!"  
  
Carmen snatched her book back while Sirius keeled over laughing. She marched right over to the staircase and headed toward the girl's dormitory. Before she left, however, Sirius distinctly heard her mutter something that sounded like, "Boys."  
  
"That was fun," he told Remus, smiling. He had almost forgotten about him. Remus had been sitting on the other side of the fire.  
  
"Why do you tease her so much? Some people like their studies. There's nothing wrong with that."  
  
"I guess not," Sirius replied fairly.  
  
"Oh, Monday night, there's a full moon," Remus whispered to him a little nervously, since there were still several people in the common room. "Are you coming?"  
  
"Of course I am. Wouldn't miss it. I'll tell James and Peter in the morning."  
  
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That night, Carmen couldn't get to sleep. She laid in bed for nearly an hour, just thinking. She wasn't thinking about anything in particular, although Sirius kept coming up in her mind. She could almost hear him laughing. Remembering the time he cast a spell on James to make his hair grow down to his waist, she smiled and laughed out loud. Oh, James was so mad at him after that.  
  
She rolled over and looked at her picture of all of her friends on her nightstand. Sirius smiled and waved merrily to her. She grinned happily and drifted off to sleep.  
  
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The next morning, Sirius woke at six thirty, got dressed, swung his broom over his shoulder, and headed off to the Great Hall for breakfast. He found that James was already seated with Morgan and Lily. He plopped down next to Morgan, yawned, and started piling bacon onto his plate. After several minutes of dull conversation (it was very dull, by the way, it being so early in the morning) the other team members (Velma Watson, Sumner Daniels, Christopher Spinnet, and Jaymie Hackle) came into the hall. Within ten minutes, the eight of them left for the quiditch field.  
  
It was a beautiful autumn morning. The cool breeze woke them all up at once. Seven of them mounted their brooms to do a few practice laps while James disappeared into the locker rooms. He appeared moments later carrying two scarlet and gold quiditch robes. Everyone landed nearby.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to say that both Lily and Sirius will be joining us for the season. This is really the best team we've ever had," he said.  
  
"Oh, James, stop it, you're going to embarrass us," Sirius laughed.  
  
"Here are your uniforms," James said tossing them their new robes. "Now, let's get practicing."  
  
"But, James," Lily spoke up, "What am I going to do about a broom?"  
  
"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot. You can use a school one for now, but you'll eventually have to order one. I suggest a Shooting Star." At this, Lily nodded and went to get a broom.  
  
They began practice by first letting the snitch out for Velma. Then, the bludgers escaped from their box (everyone stood back as this happened). Jaymie and Christopher took to the air. When Lily came back onto the field carrying a worn and tattered broomstick, James began, "Okay. Now, while Sumner, Morgan, and I practice chaser skills, you two can have this extra quaffle and practice blocking each other's goals. Now, let's get to work." Lily watched James take off to the middle of the field, and then kicked off from the ground herself.  
  
While the chasers ran through their usual moves, Sirius and Lily worked out some more complicated keeper defenses. At one point, James flew over to them and showed them the Danzetti Save. "Lily, you try," he told her once he finished.  
  
James threw the quaffle he was holding at one of the goals. Lily soared up and rebounded the ball backward with the tail of her broom. Several twigs fell toward the ground from her less than perfect broom.  
  
"So how was that?" she asked him, but James didn't answer right away. He was just looking at her. "Well - James?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, that was excellent," he said quickly, coming to his senses. He was just noticing how eyes sparkled in the sun. It was interesting, to him, at least.  
  
Just after he spoke this, there was a cheer from the other side of the stadium. Velma's right hand was held high in the air clutching something small and gold. She had caught the snitch. "Way to go, Velma!" Morgan shouted. She let go of her catch and sped off after it again.  
  
It was then that he realized how good this team actually was. Each player flew with ease, it hardly seemed that they were riding brooms at all. The chasers were fearless, the beaters unbeatable, they had a very skilled seeker, and two very different, but perfect keepers.  
  
Remus climbed into the stands a little while later. Morgan saw him and looked down at her watch. "James, it's nearly ten. Can we go now?"  
  
James, too, glanced down at his wrist and motioned everyone to the ground. "Everyone, I think I can safely say that we have got the quiditch cup in the bag this year." At this, the team cheered and departed.  
  
"James, wait up!" Sirius called. "Full moon tomorrow," he said simply.  
  
"Where is Moony? I saw him in the stands just a second ago." He looked around and saw Remus, walking up the slope with a figure with long, dirty blond hair.  
  
"Hmm. Wonder what he's up to."  
  
~Well, what did you think? Did you like the idea of two keepers? What do you think of the character development so far? I really need your opinion! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Please!!! I NEED MORE!!! Carmen 


	9. Chapter 9: After Practice

THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Disclaimer: All I own in this story is Carmen Willows and Morgan Fay. Nothing else.  
  
Dedication: Hey Angel Food Cake! Guess what? This is for you again! *Jumping up and down* Yeah! What's that now? Like three dedications? He he he.  
  
I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I would have done it sooner, but I wrote another story and it was a list. So I accidentally got banned from updating for a week. Opps! Well, it's up now, and I hope that you really enjoy it. Oh, and less than 6 days till Harry Potter 5 comes out! Yeah! * jumping up and down even more than before *  
  
Chapter 9: After Practice  
  
After quiditch practice, Sirius headed straight to the Great Hall for an early lunch. He had a good (at least he thought it was good) reason for wanting to be fast. He wolfed down his chicken and potatoes and headed for the Gryffindor Tower. After grabbing his bag, he briskly walked down to the dungeons - where the Slytherins were known to walk by on their way to their common room. 'Where is James?' he thought urgently. It was almost eleven thirty and they still had to set everything up. So, he began on his own.  
  
He started by wrapping a long rope from his sac around several suits of armor. Then, he made two large loops in the middle of the floor. It was part of a trick he learned from Peter who had gone camping with some muggle friends the year before. Then, he did a little charm that Remus discovered to perfectly blend the rope into its surroundings.  
  
'Oh, this is going to be so perfect!' he thought. A few more spells, and it would be ready. There was a sudden sound of footsteps. Sirius quickly ducked behind a particularly large statue, and took out his wand. 'Where is James?' he thought again. Oh, well. He'd just have to enjoy it on his own. It was James' loss. He rolled up his sleeves just before the person came into view. The visitor rounded the corner and Sirius jumped out from his hiding place, his wand drawn. A scream echoed off the walls.  
  
"Sirius Black! Don't you ever do that to me again!" It was Carmen, and she had dropped her books in shock. She clutched her heart. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I might as well ask you the same question," he said, letting out a lot of air, and bending down to pick up her books.  
  
"I was reading as I was walking back to the common room from lunch and I took a wrong turn," she explained, helping Sirius to gather her books. "And what's your excuse?"  
  
"I was.doing the same thing as a matter of fact," he told her with a smirk and a little sarcasm.  
  
"Really." She gave a hint of a smile. "And what book, may I ask, were you reading?"  
  
"Err.The Invisible Book of Invisibility, of course." A larger smile appeared on her face. He liked making her do that. The sight was so pleasant.  
  
"So what are you really doing down here?" she asked, tilting her head.  
  
"Would you like to see?" he asked raising his eyebrows and smiling.  
  
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but sure."  
  
"We just have to wait a little while, but don't worry, it'll be great."  
  
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When quiditch practice ended, Lily and James headed back up to the castle. James wanted to work out a few more plays while Lily needed to do Charms homework. It was her favorite class and she was quite good at it. As they opened the oak doors, he saw Natalie walking gracefully from a corridor to the left. He smiled as he saw her.  
  
"Hi. Want to go for a walk? I was just going outside."  
  
"Okay," he answered. Natalie noticed Lily standing next to him, wearing quiditch robes. She took his hand and walked outside. "So, you have a new keeper?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Lily. Our first practice was today. She's actually really good," he added.  
  
"Is she? So how are your classes going?" she asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Good. All except for potions." He shuffled his feet over the thick grass. "I don't know why they keep putting us with the Slytherins when they know that we won't get along with them." Their conversation continued like this for several long minutes. James suddenly looked down at his watch in horror. "Oh, it's already eleven thirty. I'm supposed to meet Sirius."  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"Well.would you like to see?" An excited grin spread across his face.  
  
"Sure," she said, though a little confused. She followed him up through the entrance hall. He led her down a dark passageway where there were several pieces of armor.  
  
"I'm late," he said looking at his watch again. He looked around to see if anyone was watching. "Don't tell Sirius I showed you this," he whispered, pulling out his wand. He tapped the helmet of a nearby suit of armor. Immediately it sprang alive and jumped aside, revealing a secret passageway. "Come on," he grabbed her hand and ran down the dark hall. She was very confused and gave a small laugh.  
  
Five minutes later, they found themselves coming out of the passage and into a brilliantly lit chamber. They then passed through a nearby door and discovered that they were actually in a section of the dungon, underneath the school. "James, where - " she began, but he put up a hand to silence her.  
  
"Wait," he said. They walked down another corridor and turned to corner. "Padfoot?" he asked.  
  
"Prongs?" Sirius came out from behind a statue with Carmen. "You're late. Hi, Natalie, right? What did you bring her down here."  
  
"Thought she might like it. And you?"  
  
"Same reason, so I guess I can't talk." While they were talking, Carmen and Natalie exchanged friendly smiles. "It's five minutes to noon. They'll be here any moment." Sirius nodded for the four of them to move behind the statue, and they did so. It was plain that neither of the girls knew exactly what was going on. Since they were in hiding, it was obvious that it was some kind of joke, but what - they didn't know.  
  
In a few moments time, two voices were heard coming down the corridor.  
  
"This is it," James whispered. The two mystery people turned the corner toward them, and the quartet found that it was Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. They were merely chatting about quiditch when they stepped into the rings of rope.  
  
"Hey, what the - " Sirius had whispered a spell, and the ropes sprang together, tight around their ankles, and the pair flew upward. Another charm was done, and their hair turned bright red with shinning gold sparkles.  
  
They couldn't help it. The four of them burst out, laughing, even Carmen. James and Sirius actually fell to the floor and rolled out into their view. "Potter!" The two victims shouted together. "Get us down from here!"  
  
"Oh, first take credit from where it came from. This was all Sirius' idea," James told the two through mad laughs.  
  
Sirius stood up, though it was rather hard because of his constant laughter, and took a deep bow. "Where's my wand? I'm going to murder you, Black!" Lucius shouted. Just at that moment, their wands fell to the floor, just out of their reach.  
  
The two real troublemakers waved them goodbye and began to leave up the hall. "Oh, I almost forgot." Sirius took out his wand once more, and ribbon sprang out of the end, weaving itself to form the words, "You have been had by Hogwarts' best troublemakers - James Potter and Sirius Black!"  
  
"Oh, and good luck trying to get that out of your hair. We invented that spell and it should last for, oh, about a week." Sirius and James simultaneously offered the girls their arms, who both wrapped their own through, and left in hysterics.  
  
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After James left, Lily continued to walk to the common room. She entered her dormitory and disposed of her books onto her bed. Having nothing else to do at the time, she exited through the portrait hole, and made her way down to the Great Hall. As she passed the library, Andrew came walking down a set of stairs across the way. "Lily, I was just looking for you. I haven't seen you all week. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, and you?"  
  
"Good. I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white carnation whose long stem certainly wouldn't be able to fit into any pocket. He reached out and presented it to her.  
  
"How did you do that?" she asked, taking the flower.  
  
"Magic," he said simply. She giggled and her hair gently fell over her face as she sniffed the carnation. "Would you like to have lunch with me?"  
  
"Sure." They continued their walk down to the Great Hall, talking about simple things: books, classes; it was actually quite pleasant. When they reached the Great Hall, the pair strolled over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down. "Things look so different from this side of the hall," Lily commented.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well, you just see everything from a different angle. Sometimes it's good to find a different perspective. It helps you see things more clearly," she explained.  
  
"And what do you see now?" Andrew asked with interest.  
  
"I see a very interesting guy who I'm glad that I'm with," she smiled.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Remus entered the library with Morgan at his side. She was still carrying her broom from quiditch practice. They took a seat in the back of the library away from windows. That was how Morgan liked to study. She leaned her broom on the back of a chair as they sat down.  
  
"Could we run through some Charms stuff today? Then tomorrow, maybe potions?" Morgan asked. Remus had offered to help her with some of her schoolwork that was troubling her. What with quiditch starting up, there just didn't seem to be enough time for her to do all of the homework that her teachers were pounding on her in preparation for the O.W.L.s. He never really had much else to do, and he was glad to help. There was just one problem.  
  
"Actually, tomorrow isn't good," he said at once. "I - err - I have to go and visit my sick aunt."  
  
"Oh, well, that's okay. We can do potions some other time. I hope your aunt feels better," she spoke honestly. God, he hated lying to her, and all of his friends for that matter. James, Sirius, and Peter had found out he was - well - different, and accepted him, but he couldn't bear to tell the girls. What would they think?  
  
"Let's just get to work," he told her, pulling his books in front of him.  
  
~Well, what did you think? I'd really like to know. The next chapter should be up really soon. I've already written half of it. Would you like the next chapter dedicated to you? Just review and tell me who is your favorite character in this fic and why. Love always, Carmen Willows 


	10. Chapter 10: A Mysterious Disappearance

Disclaimer: I don't own James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, Snape, Malfoy, or any of JK Rowling's other characters. I do, however, own Carmen Willows, Morgan Fay, and all of the teachers that I made up.  
  
Dedication: This chapter is in loving memory of the person who died in book 5. I love you!  
  
Okay, sorry it's been so long. Book 5 came out and then my computer wasn't working, but here it is now. I hope you like it!  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 10: A Mysterious Disappearance  
  
The next morning in the common room, the six of them were in their usual armchairs. Carmen was doing extra homework ("Will you ever stop reading?" Sirius commented) while everyone else was merrily chatting.  
  
"It worked perfectly. You should have been there, Moony. I bet they're still hanging upside down," Sirius was telling them.  
  
"We better get downstairs," James told the five of them. "Classes start in an hour." Everyone grabbed their bags and began for the Great Hall.  
  
'It was rather funny,' Carmen thought to herself, thinking about their red and gold hair. Then she felt a little guilty, remembering Lucius and how nice he had been to her on their first day back. 'Well, there's nothing wrong with him. He had never done me any harm. It was rather immature.' She told this to Sirius.  
  
"Well, I bet you weren't thinking that when you were hanging onto the statue of Candyce the Confused trying not to collapse with laughter," he said.  
  
"As funny as it was, it still wasn't very nice," she told him.  
  
"Who cares? They're Slytherins. You know, last year, they turned all of our robes pink. They're not very nice, come to think of it."  
  
"Well, if they're 'just Slytherins,' you can think of me as 'just a prefect' who, by the way, can take points away from houses if she finds anyone doing magic in the corridors," she spoke scathingly.  
  
"You're right," he said immediately. "It wasn't very nice at all. Very immature, indeed." He shook his head vigorously and smiling hopefully. By this time, they were in the Entrance Hall, just outside of the Great Hall. Carmen spotted Lucius coming out from a dark corridor to the right.  
  
"I'll be right back," Carmen told the others.  
  
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, but then he saw Malfoy. Heat began to rise in his face as she gracefully walked over to him. He entered the Great Hall without another word.  
  
"Hi, Lucius," Carmen said.  
  
"Hello," he said rather stiffly. She noticed that he hat quite a large hat on, probably covering his hair sporting the Gryffindor colors.  
  
"Look, I'm really sorry for what Sirius and James did yesterday. It was very childish, and I really don't approve of that sort of thing," she told him. To her surprise, he gave her a small smile.  
  
"Thanks," he said.  
  
"By the way, you have a little - ," she brushed her own hair away from her forehead. Lucius had a small strand of red sticking out of his hat.  
  
"Thanks," he said again, hastily stuffing it back inside the elastic of the hat.  
  
"Well, I'll see you later," she waved and entered the hall. Sitting down across from Sirius, she caught his eye, but he hurriedly looked at his plate.  
  
*******************  
  
That afternoon, Morgan was sitting alone in Muggle Studies, looking a little impatient. She bounced her leg up and down beneath her desk. Three minutes before class began, Professor Kerk asked her to approach his desk. She got up and walked briskly to him, wringing her hands.  
  
"Miss Fay, I'm very surprised about the quality of your essay on the muggle space program," he began. She had asked to turn it in early in hopes of learning her grade sooner.  
  
"Was - was it alright?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"It was one of the best essays that I have ever seen written on the subject. I'm very impressed. You've really seemed to have found your strength. Keep up the good work." He gave her roll of parchment that was her report back to her and continued working. She went back to her desk feeling that a balloon was swelling inside of her. She looked down at her paper to see an A+ written across the top. She turned to show Remus her accomplishment and to thank him, but - he wasn't there.  
  
'Oh,' she remembered, 'he's not here. I'll just show him later.' She shrugged, looking a little put out, as the lesson began.  
  
*************************  
  
That night at dinner, Lily, Morgan and Carmen were sitting together in the Great Hall. "So, what do we have to do tonight?" Lily asked.  
  
"We have astronomy in the West Tower at eleven. We're supposed to be able to see Saturn tonight," Carmen explained with pleasure. "Wait, something's wrong." She looked up and down the table. "Where's the comment, 'You like class too much,' or, 'Don't you care about anything but school?' Where's Sirius? And James and Remus?"  
  
"Remus is visiting a sick aunt, but I don't know where Sirius and James went," Morgan told them, looking around the hall.  
  
"Strange," said Lily. "Wonder where they could be?"  
  
"Oh, that reminds me," Morgan began. "Carmen, I wanted to ask you. What's going on between you and Sirius?"  
  
"What?" Carmen asked, a little too quickly.  
  
"What's going on between you and Sirius?" she repeated politely.  
  
"Nothing is going on. Why would you ask that?"  
  
"Because it's so obvious that you like him." Lily now had joined the conversation. "And he eyes you during practically every class. You haven't noticed that?"  
  
"And did you see him at breakfast this morning after you talked to Malfoy?" Morgan asked. "He was positively jealous!"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Carmen said, going slightly red in the face. "There is nothing 'going on' with me and Sirius. So, how's quiditch practice going?"  
  
**********************  
  
"Ouch! Stop stepping on me!" James hissed.  
  
"Sorry, but it's kind of hard to see your foot when it's invisible," Sirius whispered back. The two of them were under James' invisibility cloak. He had inherited it from his father, and it was his most essential piece of rule-breaking equipment that he owned, except perhaps for the Marauder's Map, something of their own creation.  
  
"All clear," James said, taking the map out from underneath the cloak for one brief second. "Where's Wormtail?"  
  
"He's meeting us out there. Said he could get there without our help." By this time, they had made their way onto the grounds. "There's Peter." A small brown rat was sitting on a large rock safely away from the Womping Willow. They took off the invisibility cloak, and James whispered a spell that made an opening in the rock. He tucked it inside and sealed the rock again.  
  
"Let's go. Remus is waiting," Sirius said, making sure there wasn't anyone else on the grounds. In a split second, he transformed into a great black dog. Sirius glanced to his left and saw a stag standing where James once was.  
  
They set off toward the Womping Willow where Peter ran to the trunk, dodging the branches as he went, and pressed a knot in the tree. Its branches immediately stopped flailing about, and the three of them disappeared behind the tree.  
  
*************************  
  
"Where could they be?" Lily, Carmen, and Morgan were walking up the spiral staircase that led to the top of the West Tower. Class was about to start, and the boys still hadn't showed up yet.  
  
"I don't know, but it's," Morgan checked her watch, "three minutes to eleven." The three of them took seats in scrubbed wooden chairs toward the back of the room. In her impatience, Lily looked up. As always, there was no roof in this room, and the classroom simply opened up to the heavens. Of course, this was ideal for an Astronomy lesson.  
  
"Alright class," came a voice from the front of the class. Professor Abbot emerged from a door on the left with a large stack of papers in her hands. "These are star charts that I want you to fill out. Please note that you must finish before class ends, otherwise, the only other time that you would be able to finish is one hundred and sixty two years from now. You may -"  
  
James, Sirius, and Peter had just burst in the doorway, panting and gasping for breath. It looked as though they had just sprinted the length of the quiditch pitch. "I'm sorry we're late, Professor, we -"  
  
"That's quite alright. Just make sure it doesn't happen again, otherwise I will be forced to deduct points from Gryffindor," the professor said, turning back to the papers in her hands. "Now take a seat." All three boys took the only empty seats, a row in front of the girls. "As I was saying," she started again, passing out the papers, "I want you all to pair up, and complete the charts. You have one hour."  
  
Peter grabbed Sirius as a partner before anyone else said anything. Peter was always afraid that people would feel that they 'got stuck with him' if he was the only one left, so he liked getting to pick first. Carmen paired with Morgan, which left James and Lily. He took his chair, still breathing heavily, and pulled it over to the side of Lily's desk. He sat down and pulled the parchment closer. "Okay, let's get started. Where do you recon Venus is?"  
  
"Where were you?" Lily asked politely, as she drew Venus on the parchment.  
  
"Oh, um, we were, well, we just forgot about class," he said, not looking up.  
"We missed you at dinner, too."  
  
"Well, we weren't hungry." She noted that as he spoke, he looked slightly nervous. He ruffled the back of his hair. Lily smiled slightly even though he knew that he wasn't telling the truth. "Let's just get to work, shall we?"  
  
'Well,' she though, 'I'll just have to find out what's going on myself, then, won't I?'  
  
~ Well did anyone like this chapter? I know, it's not great, but the next chapter I'm really going to love writing. I've had the image of it in my head for weeks. It will either be the next chapter or the one after that, so check soon! Now, you know what to do. Clickity, click, click, click!  
  
Carmen Willows 


	11. Chapter 11: When Souls Soar

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; JK Rowling does. I'm just making stuff up.  
  
Dedication: This is dedicated to many many people! Here it goes: Sirius - Oh, most of all Sirius, Carmen - cuz I really had this image of them together for so long, and all of my reviewers and readers! Here are just a few little thank yous!  
  
Magnolia - thanks for the great compliment.  
  
Kat - Thank you so much for taking the time to come and read it here. I really like Carmen, too. She's based on me really. Some of me went into Lily also, but I love everyone.  
  
Jamesweetie4eva - keep reading!  
  
Angel Food Cake - You are my top reviewer! I love ya! Thank you so much!  
  
Sabner - Thank you for reviewing all of my stories. Sorry I didn't dedicate the last one to you, I kind of forgot what with book 5 coming out.  
  
Tinkerbellhp07 and Devin Jamie- I hope you're still reading!  
  
Kat097 - I have no clue if she's even read this, but she's one of my favorite authors and a friend. You inspire me!  
  
Also, a big hug to the rest of my reviewers and readers! Thank you so much for all of your support! You don't know how happy I am to get reviews for this story!  
  
I'm sorry that this took so long. I'm writing two other stories at the same time as this one, so if you get bored, please check them out! This one will probably always be my favorite. Well, this is a super long chapter. Just the story part of it alone is about 3,542 words! Wow! I just couldn't stop once I got going and I really wanted all of this to be in here. It'll probably be my favorite chapter in the whole story. I just hope that I wrote it alright. Okay, enough of my rambling. I'll let you get on with the story. So here you are -  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 11: When Souls Soar  
  
Remus came to transfiguration at around midday on Tuesday. When he entered the classroom, everyone turned their heads to look at him. He handed Professor McGonagall a note and took a seat next to Morgan.  
  
"Look at this," Morgan told him when the lesson ended, brandishing her essay under the table for him to see. "This is my first A+ since first year."  
  
"Congratulations," Remus replied, seeming very pleased.  
  
"It's all because you helped me. Thank you." To his surprise, she leaned over and threw her arms around him. Still a little taken aback, he put an arm across her back. A wide smile spread across his face.  
  
"Hem, hem," a voice from the front of the class said.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Professor," Morgan said hastily, pulling away from him.  
  
For the rest of the lesson, Remus found it impossible to pay attention. He kept glancing out of the corner of his eye at the girl sitting next to him, butterflies flying around his stomach each time he did this.  
  
**********  
  
Carmen stayed up very late that night, reading one of her many volumes of books; at least she was trying to read. Thoughts kept streaking through her mind, thoughts of what Lily and Morgan had said to her at dinner the previous night. "It's so obvious that you like him.And he eyes you during practically every class." Was it true that she liked him? It seemed almost impossible. She was a prefect; he was one of the two biggest troublemakers in school. How could she possibly have feelings like that for him? She didn't, or did she? His face floated across her mind, his smile, his laugh. She remembered how, over the summer, she had smiled at his face in her picture frame, how she laughed at his jokes. She heaved a deep sigh and smiled herself.  
  
She read page 372 for the sixth time before saying out loud, "I do."  
  
**********  
  
As the end of September approached, the long anticipated Hogsmeade trip could not have been more welcoming. The teachers were piling more homework on the fifth years than ever. In their core subjects alone, they had three essays due: one for defense against the dark arts, one for potions, and another for history of magic; they had to practice transfiguring mice into rabbits; and on top of all that, they would be performing Felunter charms in front of the entire class next week.  
  
However, no one spent as much time working as Carmen who was frequently seen poring over books in the library.  
  
It was the Monday before the third of October, and Lily and Morgan were sitting through another boring Divination lesson. They were supposed to be reviewing star horoscopes.  
  
"It is very important, class, that you understand perfectly the positions of the stars and their meanings, not so much for your O.W.L.s, but to help you in the future, when you are out of school."  
  
"Do you think that I can drop this class after next year?" Morgan asked under her breath.  
  
"Maybe the stars will show us," Lily snorted.  
  
"Yes, it is very clear," Professor Opaelle rasped, now leaning over Lily's shoulder. "You are in grave danger, even as we speak."  
  
When she turned away, Lily whispered to Morgan, "Yeah, I'm going to have a stroke right now because Jupiter decided that it wants to revolve around the sun. I need to get out of here. Professor," she now said more loudly, "may I go to the bathroom?"  
  
Professor Opaelle surveyed her for a moment and then nodded her head. Lily stood up, and exited through the trap door. It seemed like heaven just to be out of that class for a mere ten seconds. Since, at the moment, she really didn't care about going back to class, she strolled down to the first floor. Just as she turned to go down to the entrance hall, however, Professor McGonagall emerged from behind a tapestry. Heart pounding at the thought of getting in trouble right before the Hogsmeade weekend, Lily, burst into an excuse for being so far from her Divination class.  
  
"Oh, Professor, I was just going d -"  
  
"At the moment, Miss Evans, I frankly don't care where you are going. I am a bit preoccupied." Preoccupied wasn't a strong enough word. Professor McGonagall looked livid. "Could you do something for me, Miss Evans? Please go out to the grounds, find Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, and tell them that they are to come to my office immediately."  
  
Wondering what they did wrong this time, Lily nodded. Being grateful for not getting into trouble, she opened the great oak doors and walked into the streaming sunlight.  
  
Meanwhile, in care of magical creatures, Professor Adamson decided that they would now be studying fire crabs ("Big surprise," Sirius muttered). "Fire crabs," the professor explained with great enthusiasm, "are highly dangerous creatures when not looked after properly." He gestured to the large turtle-like creatures tethered to a nearby tree. "When fully grown, like the ones we have with us, the flames that they spit out can be quite damaging. I believe I've heard of a person who was passing by a fire crab and got a barrel full of flames thrown on them; they were forced to stay in St. Mungo's for a week."  
  
"Great. That's just what we need. To spend the weekend in the hospital," Sirius told James.  
  
"Hey," James whispered back, "at least we would miss a couple of more lessons like this." Natalie suppressed a small giggle nearby.  
  
Professor Adamson then explained to them that if they, the fire crabs that is, did not get enough exercise, they would get more disgruntled, and therefore, more dangerous. So, they worked in pairs and were to take the creatures for a walk. James paired with Natalie, while Sally leapt at the chance to work with Sirius. Before walking away with Natalie, however, James heard a distinctive groan coming in the direction of his best friend.  
  
James and Natalie attempted to walk the fire crab along the edge of the forest. They had made it quite a bit away from the rest of the group, but it did not seem to want to move any more. After a few minutes of hopeless tugging, James let out a sigh and said, "This is just pointless." With that, he tied its rope to the nearest tree and sat down safely away from firing distance of the crab.  
  
"Don't you think other people are going to notice?" Natalie asked, walking over to him.  
  
"No," James answered, looking over at the rest of the class. They all seemed a little preoccupied what with trying to control the creatures. Natalie soon sat down to join him.  
  
They were soon deep in conversation, mainly about quiditch.  
  
"But, you know, I think that Luxemburg definitely has a shot for the next quiditch cup," James explained. "They have fantastic beaters."  
  
"Yes, but beaters don't necessarily make a team good. Their chasers are definitely weak this year." The fire crab let out a little puff of fire.  
  
"Yeah, well what they really need are chasers like.Lily?"  
  
"Lily?" Natalie asked, taken aback. "Why Lily?"  
  
"No, she's coming here." James pointed across the grounds. Lily was, indeed, walking in their direction. She waved. James's heart skipped a beat, and he waved back, but Natalie, looking from James to the redhead, gave her a glare.  
  
The fire crab, being extremely disgruntled by now, suddenly allowed its end to explode in furry. The rope binding it to the tree easily snapped. Instinctively, James lunched forward to grab it before it got away. However, the rope slipped from between his outstretched hands. It sped farther across the lawn - directly towards Lily. Heart beating very fast, James leapt to his feet and sprinted to her, stumbling on the way.  
  
With another blast of raging fire, the crab spun around in a circle and made to attack the first person in sight. Lily couldn't move. Another burst of fire blazed through the air. It hit Lily straight on, the flames searing horribly across her body, and she fell to the ground silently.  
  
**********  
  
She was holding a small black-haired baby boy in her arms. She looked up and smiled. "I love you," she mouthed.  
  
"I love you, too," a man silently spoke. It was James. She looked back down at the baby cradled in her arms and smiled.  
  
She glanced at the window. A horrible, pointed face appeared, looking in at them. She instantly felt her stomach collapse, and all of the air seemed to leave from her lungs. She felt like she was going to be sick. "James," she whispered. Seeing the strained and terrified look on her face, he turned to the window and leapt to his feet, pulling out his wand.  
  
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off," he yelled, throwing his arm out.  
  
She ran to the staircase stumbling slightly as she went. At the top of the stairs, she turned around. The door burst open.  
  
Lily woke with a start and sat up. Someone gasped from her right. It was Carmen. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed in which Lily was laying on. Lily looked wildly around her, breathing deeply, her heart beating fast. She was in the hospital wing. Suddenly a searing pain stretched across her entire body. Looking down at her arms, she saw thick searing burns, and she winced.  
  
"Oh, Lily, thank god you're okay!" Carmen said, clutching her heart. "We were all so worried."  
  
"What happened?" Lily asked, her chest rising up and down.  
  
"You were attacked by a fire crab. We were all so worried. You've been in here so long, that we all had to take turns staying with you so the others could eat and sleep. James was just here a little while ago."  
  
"James?" Lily asked, trying to remember what had happened to her while her head was spinning. "Why?"  
  
"Well, he's worried about you. He's been up here an awful lot lately; more than any of us, in fact. I think he might be blaming himself for what happened to you," Carmen explained.  
  
"Lye back down, you'll hurt yourself," said a nurse, bustling over to Lily. "You'll be here for a while, so get used to it. Honestly, I don't know what Professor Adamson was thinking, bringing in fire crabs for fifth years. Keep still," she added, taking a large green bottle off of the desk beside the bed. She dipped a large amount of thick yellow liquid onto a cloth. "This will sting, so brace yourself." Lily took Carmen's hand and squeezed it tightly as the burning potion touched her wounds. It felt like someone stabbing her with sharp knives. When the nurse had finished, she walked to her office on the other side of the hospital wing.  
  
"Carmen," Lily said, wanting to get to the most pressing matters, "I need to tell someone. I - I think that I've been having dream premonitions." She then went into explaining her dream, everything about it: James, the baby called Harry, and the face in the window.  
  
"Are you sure it's a dream premonition?" Carmen asked in a small voice when she finished. "I mean, you said that they're really rare, right?"  
  
"I'm almost positive. I've had this dream once before, but this time it went further. I haven't learned much about them, but so far, all of the clues point to that solution," Lily said, lying back down. "I meant to research it more, but then quiditch started, and I completely forgot about it. But that's why I need you." She turned to Carmen beside her. "I need you're help. I really need to find out what this all means, and I can't do anything right now. Please."  
  
Seeing the look of desperation on her face, Carmen nodded and said, "Of course I'll help. I'll do everything I can."  
  
"Thank you so much," Lily said giving her a weak smile. "And, Carmen," she added, "please don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want everyone to think I'm going crazy."  
  
"Don't worry, you can trust me."  
  
**********  
  
The rest of the week passed slowly, especially for Lily, but Saturday did eventually come, signaling the Hogsmeade weekend.  
  
Lily, of course, was still in the hospital wing, though her wounds seemed to be clearing up exceptionally well. The nurse, Madam Jacque, now allowed her to read in bed. Carmen had brought her a book from the library called Dreams and What They Mean When You Can Remember What They're About. It was interesting, but not very informative on the subject of dream premonitions. All she could interpret from this book so far was that it said that her dreams supposedly meant that she felt the need for security in her life. However, she didn't think that this was what her dreams were really trying to tell her.  
  
She had just finished Chapter 12: Dreams of Paradise when she heard someone enter the ward. She looked up and saw that it was James. She smiled and put her book down. He hadn't come to see her all week. He approached her bed and thrust some flowers toward her. A little more normally he asked, "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm fine. Thank you for the flowers," she answered, smelling them. "Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"  
  
"Oh, well, remember how I told you about the prank that Sirius and I played on Malfoy and Snape? Well, they couldn't think of another way to get back at us, so they told McGonagall on us."  
  
"Is that why she was so mad that day?"  
  
"Yup. Anyway, Sirius and I are both banned from going to Hogsmeade at all this weekend."  
  
"What happened to meeting Natalie, then?" Lily asked, putting the flowers on her nightstand.  
  
"Well, she needed to get some quills and stuff. I'm meeting her later today, but I wanted to talk to you." He suddenly looked quite nervous again, and he ruffled the back of his hair. "Look, Lily - I'm sorry for what happened before. I was being -"  
  
"No, James, you don't have to," Lily interrupted.  
  
"No, I need to. I'm sorry. That was really a stupid thing to do. I didn't want to hurt you."  
  
"I'm fine, James," Lily said. "Really. Thank you for caring."  
  
"I have something for you," James said with a little more spirit, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a gleaming chess set. "I ordered this for you. Thought you might like something to do while you're here." He began to set up the pawns. "So, tell me about yourself. Tell me about your family."  
  
"Why would you want to know about that?" she asked, a little puzzled by the odd question.  
  
"I want to know more about you. Tell me anything."  
  
"Well, I'm a muggle born, I have a sister, I like to read, my favorite class is charms, and someday, I want to be a teacher," she said, moving a knight. "How about you?"  
  
"Both my parents are wizards, my favorite class is ancient ruins, and I want to play quiditch professionally." James said, taking her pawn.  
  
"Tell me a secret," Lily smiled, taking his castle.  
  
"Okay. Life isn't all games and hating Slytherins. Some people have hardships that are better kept away from everyone." He paused and looked down at the chess set. "My dad died when I was nine."  
  
Lily stared at him. She had never seen James this honest - so serious. It was different. "I'm sorry," she muttered.  
  
"It's fine," James said. "Now tell me a secret."  
  
"Alright. I've never really felt like I fit in at home. My sister hates me and my parents know nothing about the wizarding world. I only feel home, here, with you - and the others," she added hastily, blushing. That last part didn't come out exactly like she planned.  
  
"You know, you can always talk to me about anything," James said, looking up from the chessboard. He met her eyes, and they looked away very quickly.  
  
"Thanks," Lily whispered, blushing again. "Checkmate."  
  
**********  
  
Carmen was in the library, pouring over thick volumes of books. Ever since her visit with Lily, she had spent every spare moment looking up facts on dream premonitions. She wasn't about to let a little Hogsmeade weekend spoil her promise.  
  
Just as she opened Divination: A Prediction for the Future when someone entered the library. She looked up and spotted Sirius. He had his broomstick over his shoulder, and his hair looked a little wind blown. He craned his head, looking around, and finally spotted Carmen. She quickly returned to her book, feeling her face turn red. She had been trying to avoid Sirius ever since she admitted to herself the truth about how she felt about him. It didn't seem to be working, however.  
  
Sirius walked over to her with a smile spread across his face. "Hi," he said, sitting down across from her.  
  
"Hi," she said not looking up. She couldn't possibly look up at him. It seemed almost impossible, yet so hard to look away.  
  
"Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?" he asked.  
  
"I have work that I need to get done," she said simply.  
  
"Come on, you don't even take divination," he told her grabbing a book. "What's this all about?"  
  
"Well, I'm helping someone out."  
  
"That's really nice of you. You're the smartest person I know. You're amazing." She couldn't resist it. She looked up and gazed into his dark and beautiful eyes. He gazed back. For a moment they just sat there, seeming perfectly content. Then Sirius said abruptly, "You know, we need to get some fun into your life," and Carmen tried to turn back to her book, but once again found it impossible to concentrate.  
  
Then he stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come on," he told her, helping her up. She took his hand, not really sure of what was happening.  
  
"Sirius, what are you doing?" she asked now with a very confused look on her face. He began pulling her across the library. "What about my books?" she asked. However, he didn't seem to hear her because he dragged her out of the library itself, into the entrance hall, and through the great oak doors that led to the grounds. Heart beating fast, she asked, "Really, Sirius, what are you doing?" With great difficulty, she stopped and leaned all of her weight backward. To her surprise, Sirius turned around to face her. They looked into each other's eyes again for a moment. A moment was all it lasted because a second later, he reached down, grabbed her around the waist, and threw her over his shoulder. She was so shocked that she could barely do anything. Seconds later, however, she came to her senses. She kicked and struggled helplessly. "Sirius, put me down this instant! What do you think your doing? Sirius, where are you taking me?"  
  
Her question was soon answered as the quiditch stadium came into view. "Sirius, this isn't funny," she pleaded. "What is going on?" Yet again, he didn't answer her question. He walked across the grounds with both Carmen and his broom flung over his shoulders until he reached the quiditch pitch. He carried her through the gap in the stands and into the stadium itself. Once they were in the middle of the field, he let her down. She stared at the ground trying to regain her balance. When she looked up again, she saw that Sirius was sitting on his broom.  
  
"Get on," he said.  
  
She gapped at him. "What?"  
  
"Get on or I'll throw you over my shoulder again and carry you." She looked at him in amazement - he was serious.  
  
Very reluctantly, she leaned sideways onto the broomstick behind him. Suddenly, Sirius kicked off of the ground, and he felt Carmen's arm wrap themselves tightly around his waist. He could hear her breathing very shallowly.  
  
They soared around the stadium once and then out over the grounds. As he steered it over the lake, he felt Carmen give another little squeeze and a gasp. Once in the middle of the vast mass of water, he slowed the broom until it was flying just faster than a butterfly. Straightening up, he felt Carmen loosen her grip. He flung one leg over his broomstick and turned to face her. She was staring at the lake below, no longer looking fearful, but with a blank and unreadable look across her face. He lifted her chin gently with his pointer finger. She slowly glanced up into his deep eyes, and he gazed back. Her perfect lips were parted slightly. He longed to do it; he had wanted to do it for so long. She reached up. He leaned into her. They were inches apart. She closed her eyes. So did he. Their lips met sweetly as they continued to soar over the motionless lake, into the horizon.  
  
However, they were not alone. Someone with bright blond hair was gazing up at them with a pure look of hatred plastered across her face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~Bum bum bum! Like I said, this will probably be one of my favorite chapters in the entire story. I really hope you liked it. Well, if you review for any chapter, please review for this one! I'll be waiting!  
  
Lots of love,  
  
Carmen Willows 


	12. Chapter 12: Little Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry (who's not in this story), Hermione (who's also not in this story), Ron.  
  
Dedication: This is dedicated to Sparkles, chlozoegwen, HPDisorder, Kat, and lightsakura14. Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews! I love getting reviews on this story.  
  
~*~Once again, I'm very sorry that it has taken me such a long time to update. This chapter was so hard for me to write. I was trying to get the perfect reactions, and I still don't know how I did. I'm not very happy with how this chapter turned out, but it'll do. Is it as bad as I think it is? I hope not. Well, read on.  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 12: Little Secrets  
  
Dawn was breaking early the next morning. Sunlight streamed into every corner of the Gryffindor Tower, and it soon was flooded with the smell of sweet dew. Carmen gently awoke. Still with her eyes closed, she breathed in the fresh morning air and sighed deeply. It was unbelievable. Could it be possible that yesterday, less than twenty-four hours ago, she, Carmen Willow, had kissed Sirius Black? Oh, what bliss. Could it have all been a dream? Some wonderful fantasy of hers? But no, she could recall every detail - the wind rushing through her hair, his dark eyes bearing into hers, his soft lips.She stretched with happiness filling inside her. It was no dream; it was real.  
  
She opened her eyes smiling. She gently pushed back the hangings around her four-poster. The sun had just risen. Of course no one would be up yet. It was Sunday and they would all be sleeping in. Carmen's eyes moved in the direction of the photograph on her bedside table. Sirius winked at her and she smiled more broadly.  
  
Deciding that she might as well go down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast and then perhaps go to the library, she got up and began dressing rather carefully. When she finished, she reached for a book on her nightstand then quietly crossed the room, opened the door, and gently closed it behind her. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs of the girl's dormitory, she found the common room deserted. She exited through the portrait hole and began slowly making her way downstairs.  
  
While walking, her thoughts came across what happened after she and Sirius finally touched back down to earth. They had talked for hours about nearly everything - classes, books, their families, and so much more that she couldn't even remember. Oh, how easy it was to talk to him. She never had that before.  
  
Without consciously realizing it, she had walked all the way to the ground floor and suddenly found herself outside that Great Hall. She entered through the towering doors and turned to the Gryffindor table where the only other person in the entire hall was sitting. Carmen was surprised to find that, of all people, it was Sirius.  
  
Heart leaping, she strolled over to him. He was staring at the wall opposite him with a dazed look on his face. Hearing footsteps, he turned and saw Carmen coming toward him.  
  
"Hi," he said, suddenly smiling as he leapt from his seat to meet her halfway. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine and you?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"Good. Listen, I just want to say that I'm sorry," he said rather quickly.  
  
"Why?" Carmen asked, her smile fading slightly.  
  
"Well, for just - just coming out and kissing you like that yesterday."  
  
"Oh," her stomach plummeted and heat rose in her neck. Was he saying what she thinks he's saying? "That's okay. I'll - I'm just heading up to the library." She felt on the verge of tears and began to turn away, but he grabbed her wrist.  
  
"No, don't go! What I meant to say was that I'm sorry for coming out and kissing you like that without any warning. You're better than that. So I thought that if you weren't doing anything, we could spend the morning together and have a picnic breakfast."  
  
"Oh," she sighed, a smile returning to her face. "Oh, well, I was planning on going to the library this morning, but, sure, I'd love -"  
  
"That's brilliant!" he interrupted. "We could have a picnic in the library!"  
  
Smiling in spite of herself, she shook her head and said, "Let's just go outside, Sirius."  
  
He offered her his arm, and together they walked through the oak front doors out onto the sunlit grounds.  
  
**********  
  
"So, we've done Charms, Potions, Transfiguration. Is that it?" Morgan and Remus were sitting in the back of the library around midday on Sunday. They had been working on homework all morning in hopes of getting most of it done, so they could have a free week ahead of them.  
  
"I think so. Why don't we get a head start researching electricity for Muggle Studies?" he asked, pulling another book toward him.  
  
"Oh, come on, Remus. Let's take a little break. Why don't we go outside? Please?" she added, shrugging her shoulders and smiling.  
  
He looked at her and couldn't help but smiling himself. "Well, okay." They closed all of their books, placed them in their bags, and in no time at all, they were stepping out into the sunshine. There was silence for a minute or so as they walked across the sloping lawn toward the lake.  
  
"So, Remus," Morgan said, breaking the silence. "What do you want to do?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"What do you want to do when you get out of Hogwarts? I mean, that's what the O.W.L.s are all about, aren't they?"  
  
"Oh, well, I was sort of thinking about going into medicine."  
  
"Oh, what kind?"  
  
"Well, researching diseases mostly, but my choices are rather limited."  
  
"How so?" she asked, turning to him. "Do you mean with the O.W.L.s you pass?"  
  
"Err.yeah." He had almost let something slip.  
  
"Well, that's very noble of you." She blushed. "I'd love to do something where I could help others, but I'll never be able to do anything like that," she said kicking the grass.  
  
"Well, why can't you?"  
  
"Oh, I'll never get the N.E.W.T.s to be a healer or something like that."  
  
"Don't say that, Morgan," he said. "You're much smarter than you give yourself credit for. I mean, you've improved so much, and I'm actually learning things from you now."  
  
"Really?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Thanks, Remus. You know, I think that I might really like teaching. I want to help people like how you helped me."  
  
"You'll be a teacher, don't worry," he said, blushing slightly. "Um.Morgan?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Err." He took a deep breath. "Would you like to - to go down to Hogsmeade for a little while - you know, since we've finished everything?"  
  
"Sure." She smiled.  
  
They spent the rest of the day walking through the little shops, chatting as if there was nothing in the world to be worry about.  
  
**********  
  
James was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling in the late afternoon. He had just been to see Lily and was looking forward to explaining to Sirius his latest plan to get back at the Slytherins, but Sirius and Remus were no where to be found. He took a snitch out of his pocket and let it go. It attempted to fly out of the open window, but just before it got out of reach, he caught it. He only did this on two occasions: when he was showing off and when he was bored. (A/N: Ten points to Gryffindor for whoever can guess which one he is.)  
  
After several minutes of pointless snitch catching, Sirius opened the door to the dormitory.  
  
"Finally," James said, stuffing the snitch back into his pocket. "Where were you, Padfoot? I haven't seen you all day."  
  
"I was out," Sirius said simply.  
  
"Okay. Doing what? Did you get Peeves to kiss Malfoy and Snape without me?" he asked with disappointment.  
  
"Of course not. It would be an insult to do that without you."  
  
"Then where were you?"  
  
"Err.Studying."  
  
"Studying?" he said with a laugh. Sirius nodded his head. "Come on, Padfoot, you can tell me. We're like brothers."  
  
Just at that moment, the door opened once again, and Remus come in.  
  
"And where were you, Moony?" Sirius said, attempting to shift James's attention.  
  
"Err.Studying," he replied, sitting on his bed.  
  
"Come on!" James said. "Sirius already tried that one, and I know he's lying. What do you two know that I don't?"  
  
"Well, I don't know what Sirius was doing, but I really was studying. Then I went to Hogsmeade with Morgan."  
  
"With Morgan?" Sirius asked with interest, turning to face Remus.  
  
"Not like what you're thinking," he said hastily. "We're just friends."  
  
Sirius and James both gave him mischievously knowledgeable smiles as if they knew what Remus was really thinking the entire day.  
  
"Padfoot," James said at once, "where were you? If you don't tell us, I'll - tell McGonagall that you were the one who set off fireworks at the sorting last year."  
  
"Fine," Sirius said, realizing defeat. "I was with Carmen, but she wanted to get some reading done or something before dinner, so that's why I'm here - telling all of this to you."  
  
"Carmen? Are you two going out?" James asked.  
  
"When did this happen?" Remus said.  
  
"Yesterday," he answered simply without a trace of embarrassment.  
  
"And you didn't tell us?" James asked, outraged. Remus, however, smiled.  
  
"Well, let's see. By the time I got back, you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you. You know, the last time you woke up and saw me, I got bombarded with a pillow. Couldn't risk it, mate," he said, shrugging.  
  
"So, what happened?" James implored with interest.  
  
Sirius went into an explanation of what happened the night before, and then told them that they spent the day together, talking.  
  
"Oh, so polite, our master troublemaker," James said when he finished.  
  
"I don't want to blow it. She's - well - she's different. I really like her," he said, honestly.  
  
"A prefect and a marauder," James said, shaking his head, not able to conceal a small burst of laughter. "What a match."  
  
**********  
  
"Who are the flowers from?" Morgan asked, indicating a vase full of bright white lilies on a nightstand. Lily was still in the Hospital Wing. Morgan was sitting on a chair next to her bed.  
  
"Oh, James," she answered.  
  
"And these?" she asked again, pointing to a bouquet of daises next to them.  
  
"Andrew."  
  
Morgan smiled. "So, how are you?" she asked, changing the subject.  
  
"I'm fine," Lily answered. "Madam Jacque said that I might be able to get out of here sometime next week."  
  
"That's fabulous! You could play quiditch in November!"  
  
Lily smiled. "I'd love to play again. I already miss it. I really want to try to do this new move that James was explaining to me this morning." Once again, Morgan smiled. However, Lily didn't notice. There was a knock on a plank of wood somewhere nearby. Both of them turned to see Carmen standing some ten feet away. They motioned her to sit down, and she smiled and walked over to them.  
  
"Hi," she said, pulling up a chair. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, and you?"  
  
"I'm very well, thank you," she said, placing the book she was carrying on her lap. Carmen seemed different than usual. Noticing this, Morgan and Lily both asked, "What's up?"  
  
Carmen blushed slightly. "Oh, gosh," Morgan said, smiling ear to ear. "It's a guy, isn't it?"  
  
"Maybe," Carmen said. Part of her wanted her knowledge to go to the grave with her, yet the other half was dying to tell her friends her secret.  
  
"So?" Lily asked.  
  
"If you must know - it's Sirius."  
  
Their smiles broadened and all of them burst out laughing. "Well, it's about time," Lily said. "I was afraid that poor Sirius would die if you two didn't get together soon."  
  
"So, did you kiss?" Morgan asked, lowering her voice a notch.  
  
Carmen bit her lip, but couldn't contain the smile that was dying to come out.  
  
"You did," Lily said, leaning forward and smiling more broadly.  
  
"You know, I really like him - I do. He's so sweet. When we - kissed - he took me on a broom ride and we flew over the lake."  
  
"How romantic! Having your first kiss while soaring through the air," Morgan said, sighing.  
  
"Oh, Carmen, I'm so happy for you. Sirius is really nice," Lily smiled. She suddenly noticed the Divination book in Carmen's hands. She raised her eyebrows slightly. Carmen looked down at the book, then up at Lily and shook her head.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Carmen and Morgan said goodbye and began walking down to meet the guys for dinner. The second they walked into the Great Hall, Sirius, Remus and James came panting up behind them. Sirius took Carmen's book from her and led her over to the end of the table. James took a seat across from Sirius. Slightly exasperated, Morgan and Remus followed.  
  
A few Gryffindors looked up the table toward them and turned quickly, giggling all the way. Carmen soon noticed this and was quite bothered. "Why are they all doing that?"  
  
"Well, word travels fast here in Hogwarts, you know," James told her with a wink. Carmen looked from James to Sirius and smiled.  
  
On the other side of the room, a Slytherin girl with bright blond hair leapt up from her seat. It was Sally. She practically ran over to the other end of the table and took a seat next to Snape and Malfoy. Snape bent down slightly to talk to her. She leaned over and whispered something behind her hand, staring at the five Gryffindors. A truly evil smirk appeared on his face as he straightened up and began to speak to Malfoy.  
  
"Wonder what they're up to?" Morgan asked.  
  
"Oh, probably planning something horrible to do to me and Sirius," James said, glancing at the Slytherins without interest. "So when do you think we should talk to Peeves?" he asked Sirius.  
  
Shifting his attention away from the other end of the hall, Sirius said, "Well, I was actually thinking that we could do something else. What we planned just isn't enough."  
  
"You know, you're right."  
  
"Why don't you two just stop all of this here?" Carmen asked. "You did say that you got them back for the last time. So now you're even."  
  
"And if you do something else, they might decide to do something really horrible to you," Morgan added.  
  
"Girlfriends have no influence on the Marauder's pranks," James said smugly.  
  
"Fine, I'm only trying to help," Carmen shrugged.  
  
~*~So how was it? I would really like anyone's opinion who has a moment to spare and review. Please!!!  
  
Oh, if you email me your email address, I'll put you on a list and email you when the next chapter is up. Make things easier for everyone. : )  
  
Love always,  
  
Carmen 


	13. Not a chapter, sorry Just fixing ch 12

This is Chapter 12: Little Secrets again. I didn't realize how it cut out some things when I updated or why it was formatted like that. So for those of you who might have missed a few things, here it is again. Sorry I haven't updated so long, but I'm going to start working on the next chapter now. I just haven't had the time. Check back soon! Love, Carmen  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 12: Little Secrets  
  
Dawn was breaking early the next morning. Sunlight streamed into every corner of the Gryffindor Tower, and it soon was flooded with the smell of sweet dew. Carmen gently awoke. Still with her eyes closed, she breathed in the fresh morning air and sighed deeply. It was unbelievable. Could it be possible that yesterday, less than twenty-four hours ago, she, Carmen Willow, had kissed Sirius Black? Oh, what bliss. Could it have all been a dream? Some wonderful fantasy of hers? But no, she could recall every detail - the wind rushing through her hair, his dark eyes bearing into hers, his soft lips.She stretched with happiness filling inside her. It was no dream; it was real.  
  
She opened her eyes smiling. She gently pushed back the hangings around her four-poster. The sun had just risen. Of course no one would be up yet. It was Sunday and they would all be sleeping in. Carmen's eyes moved in the direction of the photograph on her bedside table. Sirius winked at her and she smiled more broadly.  
  
Deciding that she might as well go down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast and then perhaps go to the library, she got up and began dressing rather carefully. When she finished, she reached for a book on her nightstand then quietly crossed the room, opened the door, and gently closed it behind her. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs of the girl's dormitory, she found the common room deserted. She exited through the portrait hole and began slowly making her way downstairs.  
  
While walking, her thoughts came across what happened after she and Sirius finally touched back down to earth. They had talked for hours about nearly everything - classes, books, their families, and so much more that she couldn't even remember. Oh, how easy it was to talk to him. She never had that before.  
  
Without consciously realizing it, she had walked all the way to the ground floor and suddenly found herself outside that Great Hall. She entered through the towering doors and turned to the Gryffindor table where the only other person in the entire hall was sitting. Carmen was surprised to find that, of all people, it was Sirius.  
  
Heart leaping, she strolled over to him. He was staring at the wall opposite him with a dazed look on his face. Hearing footsteps, he turned and saw Carmen coming toward him.  
  
"Hi," he said, suddenly smiling as he leapt from his seat to meet her halfway. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine and you?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"Good. Listen, I just want to say that I'm sorry," he said rather quickly.  
  
"Why?" Carmen asked, her smile fading slightly.  
  
"Well, for just - just coming out and kissing you like that yesterday."  
  
"Oh," her stomach plummeted and heat rose in her neck. Was he saying what she thinks he's saying? "That's okay. I'll - I'm just heading up to the library." She felt on the verge of tears and began to turn away, but he grabbed her wrist.  
  
"No, don't go! What I meant to say was that I'm sorry for coming out and kissing you like that without any warning. You're better than that. So I thought that if you weren't doing anything, we could spend the morning together and have a picnic breakfast."  
  
"Oh," she sighed, a smile returning to her face. "Oh, well, I was planning on going to the library this morning, but, sure, I'd love -"  
  
"That's brilliant!" he interrupted. "We could have a picnic in the library!"  
  
Smiling in spite of herself, she shook her head and said, "Let's just go outside, Sirius."  
  
He offered her his arm, and together they walked through the oak front doors out onto the sunlit grounds.  
  
**********  
  
"So, we've done Charms, Potions, Transfiguration. Is that it?" Morgan and Remus were sitting in the back of the library around midday on Sunday. They had been working on homework all morning in hopes of getting most of it done, so they could have a free week ahead of them.  
  
"I think so. Why don't we get a head start researching electricity for Muggle Studies?" he asked, pulling another book toward him.  
  
"Oh, come on, Remus. Let's take a little break. Why don't we go outside? Please?" she added, shrugging her shoulders and smiling.  
  
He looked at her and couldn't help but smiling himself. "Well, okay." They closed all of their books, placed them in their bags, and in no time at all, they were stepping out into the sunshine. There was silence for a minute or so as they walked across the sloping lawn toward the lake.  
  
"So, Remus," Morgan said, breaking the silence. "What do you want to do?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"What do you want to do when you get out of Hogwarts? I mean, that's what the O.W.L.s are all about, aren't they?"  
  
"Oh, well, I was sort of thinking about going into medicine."  
  
"Oh, what kind?"  
  
"Well, researching diseases mostly, but my choices are rather limited."  
  
"How so?" she asked, turning to him. "Do you mean with the O.W.L.s you pass?"  
  
"Err.yeah." He had almost let something slip.  
  
"Well, that's very noble of you." She blushed. "I'd love to do something where I could help others, but I'll never be able to do anything like that," she said kicking the grass.  
  
"Well, why can't you?"  
  
"Oh, I'll never get the N.E.W.T.s to be a healer or something like that."  
  
"Don't say that, Morgan," he said. "You're much smarter than you give yourself credit for. I mean, you've improved so much, and I'm actually learning things from you now."  
  
"Really?" she asked tentatively.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Thanks, Remus. You know, I think that I might really like teaching. I want to help people like how you helped me."  
  
"You'll be a teacher, don't worry," he said, blushing slightly. "Um.Morgan?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Err." He took a deep breath. "Would you like to - to go down to Hogsmeade for a little while - you know, since we've finished everything?"  
  
"Sure." She smiled.  
  
They spent the rest of the day walking through the little shops, chatting as if there was nothing in the world to be worry about.  
  
**********  
  
James was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling in the late afternoon. He had just been to see Lily and was looking forward to explaining to Sirius his latest plan to get back at the Slytherins, but Sirius and Remus were no where to be found. He took a snitch out of his pocket and let it go. It attempted to fly out of the open window, but just before it got out of reach, he caught it. He only did this on two occasions: when he was showing off and when he was bored. (A/N: Ten points to Gryffindor for whoever can guess which one he is.)  
  
After several minutes of pointless snitch catching, Sirius opened the door to the dormitory.  
  
"Finally," James said, stuffing the snitch back into his pocket. "Where were you, Padfoot? I haven't seen you all day."  
  
"I was out," Sirius said simply.  
  
"Okay. Doing what? Did you get Peeves to kiss Malfoy and Snape without me?" he asked with disappointment.  
  
"Of course not. It would be an insult to do that without you."  
  
"Then where were you?"  
  
"Err.Studying."  
  
"Studying?" he said with a laugh. Sirius nodded his head. "Come on, Padfoot, you can tell me. We're like brothers."  
  
Just at that moment, the door opened once again, and Remus come in.  
  
"And where were you, Moony?" Sirius said, attempting to shift James's attention.  
  
"Err.Studying," he replied, sitting on his bed.  
  
"Come on!" James said. "Sirius already tried that one, and I know he's lying. What do you two know that I don't?"  
  
"Well, I don't know what Sirius was doing, but I really was studying. Then I went to Hogsmeade with Morgan."  
  
"With Morgan?" Sirius asked with interest, turning to face Remus.  
  
"Not like what you're thinking," he said hastily. "We're just friends."  
  
Sirius and James both gave him mischievously knowledgeable smiles as if they knew what Remus was really thinking the entire day.  
  
"Padfoot," James said at once, "where were you? If you don't tell us, I'll - tell McGonagall that you were the one who set off fireworks at the sorting last year."  
  
"Fine," Sirius said, realizing defeat. "I was with Carmen, but she wanted to get some reading done or something before dinner, so that's why I'm here - telling all of this to you."  
  
"Carmen? Are you two going out?" James asked.  
  
"When did this happen?" Remus said.  
  
"Yesterday," he answered simply without a trace of embarrassment.  
  
"And you didn't tell us?" James asked, outraged. Remus, however, smiled.  
  
"Well, let's see. By the time I got back, you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you. You know, the last time you woke up and saw me, I got bombarded with a pillow. Couldn't risk it, mate," he said, shrugging.  
  
"So, what happened?" James implored with interest.  
  
Sirius went into an explanation of what happened the night before, and then told them that they spent the day together, talking.  
  
"Oh, so polite, our master troublemaker," James said when he finished.  
  
"I don't want to blow it. She's - well - she's different. I really like her," he said, honestly.  
  
"A prefect and a marauder," James said, shaking his head, not able to conceal a small burst of laughter. "What a match."  
  
**********  
  
"Who are the flowers from?" Morgan asked, indicating a vase full of bright white lilies on a nightstand. Lily was still in the Hospital Wing. Morgan was sitting on a chair next to her bed.  
  
"Oh, James," she answered.  
  
"And these?" she asked again, pointing to a bouquet of daises next to them.  
  
"Andrew."  
  
Morgan smiled. "So, how are you?" she asked, changing the subject.  
  
"I'm fine," Lily answered. "Madam Jacque said that I might be able to get out of here sometime next week."  
  
"That's fabulous! You could play quiditch in November!"  
  
Lily smiled. "I'd love to play again. I already miss it. I really want to try to do this new move that James was explaining to me this morning." Once again, Morgan smiled. However, Lily didn't notice. There was a knock on a plank of wood somewhere nearby. Both of them turned to see Carmen standing some ten feet away. They motioned her to sit down, and she smiled and walked over to them.  
  
"Hi," she said, pulling up a chair. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine, and you?"  
  
"I'm very well, thank you," she said, placing the book she was carrying on her lap. Carmen seemed different than usual. Noticing this, Morgan and Lily both asked, "What's up?"  
  
Carmen blushed slightly. "Oh, gosh," Morgan said, smiling ear to ear. "It's a guy, isn't it?"  
  
"Maybe," Carmen said. Part of her wanted her knowledge to go to the grave with her, yet the other half was dying to tell her friends her secret.  
  
"So?" Lily asked.  
  
"If you must know - it's Sirius."  
  
Their smiles broadened and all of them burst out laughing. "Well, it's about time," Lily said. "I was afraid that poor Sirius would die if you two didn't get together soon."  
  
"So, did you kiss?" Morgan asked, lowering her voice a notch.  
  
Carmen bit her lip, but couldn't contain the smile that was dying to come out.  
  
"You did," Lily said, leaning forward and smiling more broadly.  
  
"You know, I really like him - I do. He's so sweet. When we - kissed - he took me on a broom ride and we flew over the lake."  
  
"How romantic! Having your first kiss while soaring through the air," Morgan said, sighing.  
  
"Oh, Carmen, I'm so happy for you. Sirius is really nice," Lily smiled. She suddenly noticed the Divination book in Carmen's hands. She raised her eyebrows slightly. Carmen looked down at the book, then up at Lily and shook her head.  
  
Twenty minutes later, Carmen and Morgan said goodbye and began walking down to meet the guys for dinner. The second they walked into the Great Hall, Sirius, Remus and James came panting up behind them. Sirius took Carmen's book from her and led her over to the end of the table. James took a seat across from Sirius. Slightly exasperated, Morgan and Remus followed.  
  
A few Gryffindors looked up the table toward them and turned quickly, giggling all the way. Carmen soon noticed this and was quite bothered. "Why are they all doing that?"  
  
"Well, word travels fast here in Hogwarts, you know," James told her with a wink. Carmen looked from James to Sirius and smiled.  
  
On the other side of the room, a Slytherin girl with bright blond hair leapt up from her seat. It was Sally. She practically ran over to the other end of the table and took a seat next to Snape and Malfoy. Snape bent down slightly to talk to her. She leaned over and whispered something behind her hand, staring at the five Gryffindors. A truly evil smirk appeared on his face as he straightened up and began to speak to Malfoy.  
  
"Wonder what they're up to?" Morgan asked.  
  
"Oh, probably planning something horrible to do to me and Sirius," James said, glancing at the Slytherins without interest. "So when do you think we should talk to Peeves?" he asked Sirius.  
  
Shifting his attention away from the other end of the hall, Sirius said, "Well, I was actually thinking that we could do something else. What we planned just isn't enough."  
  
"You know, you're right."  
  
"Why don't you two just stop all of this here?" Carmen asked. "You did say that you got them back for the last time. So now you're even."  
  
"And if you do something else, they might decide to do something really horrible to you," Morgan added.  
  
"Girlfriends have no influence on the Marauder's pranks," James said smugly.  
  
"Fine, I'm only trying to help," Carmen shrugged. 


	14. Chapter 13: Gryffindor vs Slytherin

Disclaimer: Don't own anything  
  
Dedication: To anyone who is still reading this.  
  
Sorry it's been a while. I'm almost done with one of my other stories so I was concentrating on that one for a while. This isn't the best chapter, but I hope that someone will like it, that is assuming that anyone is still reading it. Well, here you go!  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 13: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin  
  
Just over a month had passed since the first Hogsmeade visit. Surprisingly not much had changed since then.  
  
Carmen and Sirius were now almost never seen apart. He carried her books for her, they went for long walks, and held hands everywhere they went. Their friendship was truly beautiful. After their faithful broom ride, their lips had not touched. They simply found the overwhelming joy of just being in each other's presence, and that seemed enough for them.  
  
Remus and Morgan's library meetings had become more and more frequent, but that's all they were - library meetings, except, of course, for the occasional study break on the grounds. Remus had not yet found the courage to push their relationship further.  
  
As for Lily and James, he went to see her nearly everyday for the next two weeks (Madame Jaque insisted that she stay in the hospital wing longer). Her return in the middle of a transfiguration lesson was greeted by much smiles and applause. However, it must be noted that Lily was now regularly seeing Andrew, as James was with Natalie.  
  
It was now nearly time for the much anticipated first quiditch match of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Of course, Gryffindor was the favorite to win the Quiditch Cup, having said to have one of the best teams in the history of Hogwarts.  
  
James called a last minute practice the night before the match. It was a chilly November afternoon, and the team shivered slightly on the quiditch field.  
  
"All right, team," James began. "This is the first match of the season, and I say we've got a pretty good chance of winning it. We've been doing excellent during practice. Really. Those slimy Slytherins won't know what hit them."  
  
"Here, here!" Sirius said proudly at his right.  
  
"Which brings me to my next point - the keepers. Lily, I've managed to force a rumor around the school that Madam Jaque is forbidding you to play, so you're in. Sorry, mate," he added to Sirius.  
  
"No problem," he answered. "I will temporarily give up my post in the name of beating the Slytherin Slimeballs," he said beaming.  
  
"Have you ordered a broom yet?" James asked, turning to Lily, for she had been using one of the school brooms the whole while.  
  
"No," she said guiltily. "I'm sorry, James. Honestly, my parents say that we can't afford one at the moment." She looked at the ground.  
  
"Here, use mine," Sirius said handing her his.  
  
"Oh, I couldn't, Sirius. I'll just use this one." She gestured to the broken down broom next to her. A few twigs fell off of the tail as she spoke.  
  
"No, take it," Sirius insisted adding a smile. "It's not like I'm going to desperately need it in the stands."  
  
"Yes, for the good of the team," James chimed in, and reluctantly, Lily took the broomstick from Sirius's hands.  
  
"Well, let's get to it," James said, and seven players kicked off the ground hard, gliding into the air.  
  
Practice that day went as smoothly as it could go. The chasers moved as one, the beaters worked out some excellent batting technique, and Lily made numerous remarkable saves including one where she leapt off her broom into the air, caught the quaffle, and landed safely back on her broom. The practice ended with Velma's triumphant capture of the snitch. Everything was definitely looking up.  
  
The next morning, James woke at about six (which was usual for mornings before matches), dressed, and walked down to the Great Hall where the rest of the Gryffindor team was already seated. He took a seat across from Sirius and pulled a plate of food toward him, yet ate nothing. The meal passed in silence.  
  
Eventually, more chattering students entered the hall, eagerly awaiting the match. James suggested that in order to calm their nerves, the team break up and socialize a bit before heading out.  
  
Within minutes, Remus appeared followed by Carmen. Sirius stood up and motioned for Carmen to sit next to him. Remus sat down on his other side and grinded at Morgan from across the table. She returned it, and her hair slid swiftly across her face.  
  
Not a moment later, dozens of owls carrying the morning post swept in through the open windows. A newspaper landed heavily in front of Carmen nearly knocking over her pumpkin juice. After unrolling it, she let out a small gasp. Her friends turned to her with worried expressions on their faces.  
  
"What's wrong?" Morgan asked.  
  
Carmen let the paper fall onto her plate. "An araur has just been killed," she whispered.  
  
"What?" James asked, becoming suddenly alert.  
  
She nodded. "Henry Ewing. He worked with my mom."  
  
"Oh, honey, that's terrible. I'm so sorry," Lily said sympathetically.  
  
"Who would do such a thing?" Morgan asked quietly.  
  
"Lord Voldemort," Remus answered her, pulling the article toward him. "Apparently he's been behind all of those muggle killings." He frowned reading the article.  
  
James shook his head tragically and looked at his watch. "Oh damn," he said suddenly standing up and upsetting his goblet. "It's nearly nine. Team - locker room. Now."  
  
"Will you still come and watch, Carmen?" Lily asked as she stood up.  
  
"Of course," she answered folding the newspaper and tucking it away in her bag. "Wouldn't miss it."  
  
"We'll be cheering you on, don't worry," Remus said.  
  
The team entered the locker room and changed into their quiditch robes in silence. Five minutes before the game started, James began his usual pre-match pep talk, but was soon drowned in the silence and chose to remain that way.  
  
When James told them to pick up their brooms, Lily could feel the little butterflies crashing against the walls of her stomach blindly. Her arms were dead weights, and she felt like being sick. She couldn't get up and face the entire school like this. She just couldn't.  
  
She looked up to find James standing just to her left. He smiled and held out his hand. With all traces of fear magically gone, she took his hand and got to her feet. Gripping Sirius's broom tightly in her hands, she walked out onto the field.  
  
"And what a glorious day for a match," echoed the magnified voice of Jean Jordan, the student quiditch commentator. "The Gryffindor team has just walked onto the felid." The fans in the stadium went wild. Not only were the Gryffindors cheering, but Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff wanted to see Slytherin lose. "And here come the Slytherins!" The stands erupted with groans and boos at the sight of the second team. However, the Slytherin supporters made themselves hears also.  
  
"Team captains Potter and Malfoy shake hands." They gripped each others hands with piercing stares. "Watch it there! Don't break your arms! Honestly if there weren't two worse enemies than the pair of them, I'd -"  
  
"Jordan. Please. The game," came Professor McGonagall's voice from behind him.  
  
"Right you are, Professor. Just letting everyone know the tension between the teams. Adds a bit of color. Anyway, Madame Solo has just released the balls, and they're off!"  
  
Lily immediately streaked to the end of the stadium, her hair flapping in her face. Upon reaching the goalposts, she looked below her into the stands to see Remus and next to him was Sirius with his arm around Carmen's shoulders. They smiled and waved up at her.  
  
"It's Slytherin in possession." Lily directed her attention back to the game. "Jackson flies toward the Gryffindor keeper, Evans. What a superb keeper she is, too. An excellent choice of Potter's. Wait a minute. Is she in any condition to play? I thought she wasn't allowed! James - you lied to me!"  
  
"Jordan!"  
  
"Okay, Professor. I'll just have to knock him out later. Only joking, Professor!" he added hastily. "Like I really could. Anyway, Slytherin in possession. Jackson passes to Millon. Millon flies to the goalpost and - SAVE! Good one, Evans!"  
  
"Team captain Potter takes the quaffle. The chasers get into position, and it's Fay, Potter, Daniels, James. James takes the quaffle to the hoops - and - and - he scores! Ten, zero Gryffindor!" The Gryffindors erupted into applause.  
  
"The quaffle goes back to Slytherin. McCluskey takes it. He speeds to the end of the field. Ouch! Nice bludger work from Hackle. McCluskey drops the ball, which is caught by Fay. She approaches the keeper, she feints it, and she scores! Another ten points to Gryffindor."  
  
Just then, a bludger came out of nowhere and hit Morgan in the back. Remus straightened up. She slipped sideways off her broom. Dangling upside down with her ankles wrapped around the broom, she looked into the stands. Within a few seconds, she swung herself upright, though wincing slightly.  
  
"Oh! A bludger sent by Malfoy rams Fay. But she's fine, folks!" Jean said. "She flies to the other side. What a brave girl she is, too. I wonder if she'll ever go out with me. Maybe I should ask her.Hey, Morgan!"  
  
"Jordan!" Professor McGonagall stood up. "Honestly, I'll never trust another student to commentate again!"  
  
"Come on, Professor! I'll be good! Jackson takes the quaffle. He passes to McCluskey to try again. He shoots, and miss! Evans circles the hoop and passes to Daniels right below her."  
  
Lily smiled to herself. That was a tricky little move that James taught her.  
  
Over the next ten minutes Gryffindor scored another three times. The score was then fifty - zero. Velma was above the game, looking for the golden snitch. Suddenly, everyone was on their feet. "Watson's seen the snitch!" Jean yelled. "She dives. There's no one in her way. Come on, Velma! She reaches out her hand and - foul!" he shouted. Malfoy had just come sweeping out of nowhere and hit her straight on in the face with his beater's bat. Clutching her bleeding face and spinning around on her broom, she lost the snitch.  
  
"What dirty playing, Malfoy! You cheat!" Jean shouted.  
  
Madame Solo blew her whistle and called, "Penalty shot for Gryffindor!" James took the quaffle and easily scored.  
  
"Slytherin back in possession. Doesn't seem like they're quite up to scratch this year, doesn't it?" But then Slytherin scored twice.  
  
Suddenly, there was a cheer from the Slytherin supporters. Their seeker, Fret, was streaking upward. It was the real thing. Velma went flat on her broom and spend off after him. Soon they were neck and neck. The stands were silent, even Jean put a halt to his commentary. Both seekers stretch out their hands, both inches away from the snitch. A bludger belted toward Fret, crushing his arm, and he sped off course. Velma reached onward, and her fingers closed around the little golden snitch. She sat up and raised her arm in triumph.  
  
"Gryffindor wins! Gryffindor wins!" Jean shouted. "Two hundred and ten to twenty!"  
  
Velma tumbled to the ground. The rest of the Gryffindor players flew toward her. They reached the soft grass, cheering and hugging each other all the way. James and Lily found themselves in an embrace. There was a moment where they remained still, then suddenly pulled apart from each other. They looked at each other while the others remained celebrating.  
  
"Er... I've got to find Andrew," Lily said, her face turning a brilliant shade of red.  
  
"Right. Err, me too. I mean, I need to talk to Natalie," James answered equally as awkward. They turned and walked away. Lily looked behind her shoulder to see a last look at James, but he wasn't looking back. A second later, James did the same, watching the back of one of his best friends, wondering.  
  
~*~That's it. What do you think? It's going to start getting more interesting in the next few chapters. Trust me. Now review! Love always, Carmen 


	15. Chapter 14: Questions

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the things I made up. Good enough?  
  
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to two of my most loyal fans: HPDisorder (who reviewed the previous chapter less than 12 hours after I put it up!) and for Kat who always hangs in there with me. Oh, many thanks to Cinammon, a new reader.  
  
~*~ I love this chapter. One of my favorites so far. Just read it!  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 14: Questions  
  
The celebration for the Gryffindor win lasted throughout the week, which, of course, included several nightlong parties in the common room. Professor McGonagall was forced to come up to the Gryffindor Tower numerous times to cease the noise, but someone - most likely the combined efforts of Sirius and James - seemed to always keep it going.  
  
What with the first match of the season over, everyone's attention, however, was soon directed to the Christmas Eve ball, which was less than a month away. There suddenly seemed to be couples springing up left and right in the corridors. Sirius was quick to notice this.  
  
"Look, everyone is so - clingy," he remarked one morning as he, James, and Remus were strolling down the staircase for breakfast. "Even some first years are holding hands."  
  
"Well, they just saw you and Carmen together, and since they admire you so much, they thought that they should be pairing up, too."  
  
"Hmm. It's nice to be admired," Sirius said with a small grin.  
  
"So, are you going to the ball with Carmen?" James asked.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Have you asked her yet?"  
  
"Of course not," Sirius said.  
  
"That's what I thought," James replied, smirking.  
  
"Come on, Prongs. I'll ask her. I'm just taking my time. I see you haven't a date yet, yourself. What ever happened to Natalie?"  
  
James was thinking. There was a reason he had not asked Natalie to the ball yet, though he wouldn't dare tell anyone. He just wanted to see how something played out.  
  
"Well, you see, I'm just taking my time, too. Leaving my options open," he answered. At that moment, Natalie caught sight of him from across a corridor and walked swiftly to meet him.  
  
"Hi," she said smiling. "James," she continued, disregarding Sirius and Remus, "I was just wondering if you were going to go to the ball this year."  
  
"Oh - err - of course! In fact, I was just going to ask you. How 'bout it?" he said, not looking at Sirius.  
  
"I'd love to, James. Oh, would you look at the time," she said, looking at a band across her wrist. "I'm sorry, but I have to get some things done before class starts." She gave James a small kiss and strolled away.  
  
"Keeping your options open, eh?" Remus said, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, well, I don't see you with a date," James said, ruffling the back of his hair.  
  
"Yeah, Moony. Get it over with and ask Morgan," Sirius chimed in.  
  
"Oh, Morgan wouldn't want to go with me," Remus muttered, looking away from them. "She'd want to go with someone - well - I don't know. Just someone else."  
  
"Come on, do you know how many guys she's rejected already?" James asked.  
  
"Let's see: Bront, Thomas, Troy, a couple of Ravenclaws," Sirius said, counting off his fingers.  
  
"She's probably waiting for the right guy to ask her," James said, giving Remus a nudge as they walked.  
  
"Walker, King, that Hufflepuff seeker," Sirius continued.  
  
"Just ask her already."  
  
"Mullet, Platte, oh and -"  
  
"Okay, I get it," Remus said, stopping. "I - I guess I'll ask her - soon. Soon."  
  
By this time, they had reached the Great Hall. They caught sight of the girl's smiling faces and sat next to them.  
  
"Last Hogsmeade weekend before break is next weekend," Carmen said as Sirius reached for some jam. "Want to go?"  
  
"Sure," Sirius answered through a mouth full of toast. Carmen shook her head, smiling and began talking to Morgan.  
  
James looked up from his own plate and gazed at Lily right across from him. He was so confused about everything. Was Lily just a friend? Or was she more? He thought he knew before, but he felt something at the quiditch match when they hugged. It was something that he had never known before. He stared at her for a moment, then realized that she, too was watching him out of the corner of her eye. They both looked away.  
  
"So, who do you think will win Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff next week?" Sirius asked. Glad to have something to talk about, James turned away.  
  
The post arrived shortly. A thin envelope landed in Carmen's lap. She opened it, read the few words scrawled on the paper, and gaped at it in horror. Seeing the color draining from Carmen's face, Lily turned to her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"It's a letter from my mother," Carmen said. "Another araur has been killed."  
  
"What?" Remus asked. "It hasn't been in the papers."  
  
"The Ministry's trying to hush it all up. It was my mother's old partner. 'We're very scared, Carmen,'" she read, "'So your father and I have decided it is best to be cautious and go into hiding. We would love for you to come with us, but we know that it is important for you to remain at Hogwarts. We won't tell you where we're going, and we don't know when we'll be able to see you again. Don't worry; we'll be fine. Just remember that we love you dearly. Mum and Dad,'" she finished breathlessly. She looked stunned. "I can't believe it," she whispered.  
  
No one quite knew what to say to her. How could someone tell their best friend that even though their parents are in danger and they might never see them again, that everything will turn out alright?  
  
Carmen stood up to go.  
  
"Are you alright?" Lily asked, getting up also. "Do you want me to come with you?"  
  
"Or me?" Sirius asked with a concerned look on his face.  
  
"No, you don't have to. I'm fine. At least they'll be safe, right?" she said. "I just need some time to think." She gave them a small smile and left through the great doors.  
  
***  
  
The next day, Carmen was walking up to the Gryffindor tower alone. The others had been at quiditch practice the entire afternoon, so she decided to take advantage of the free time and finish an essay for Professor Gwen in the library. Of course, after she was done, she couldn't resist the pages calling to her from the shelves. So she checked out a couple texts for some light reading.  
  
She stumbled up the staircase under the weight of no less than seven thick books. Reaching a piece of loose carpet, the volumes tumbled out of her arms, and she tripped and landed on her knees. She sighed and began collecting her books.  
  
"Need some help?" asked a slightly familiar voice.  
  
She looked up to see Lucius kneeling in front of her, two of her books in hand.  
  
"Thanks," she said reaching for them.  
  
"All this for you?" he asked looking at the titles. "A Study in American Wizardry? What class is this for?"  
  
"Just some extra stuff. I can never hurt to do more than what's asked," she said.  
  
"Oh, I got ya," he said with a smile. "You were always the smartest person in school. Wouldn't be surprised if you became the next Mistress of Magic. So, how are you?"  
  
"Good. Busy with classes and such. You?" she asked, straightening up.  
  
"Fine. Did you finish that potions test yesterday? Question 35 stumped me."  
  
"I don't think it was that bad, though we are supposed to be graded on a OWL standard this year."  
  
"Well, you'll do fine. You're the smartest in school."  
  
Carmen gave him a sideways glance. "You said that."  
  
"Right. Well, there's no denying the truth." There was a pause in which they both stood there. "Look, Carmen, I was wondering if you had a partner for the ball."  
  
She flushed slightly. "Oh, well, I'm kind of seeing someone. Sorry," she added.  
  
"No problem," he nodded. "Just let me know if things ever change, alright?" He smiled, ran a hand through his bright blond hair, and walked away.  
  
When she got up to the girl's dormitory, she found Lily sitting on the window seat. She was looking longingly at the quiditch pitch across the way, lost in though. She didn't even hear Carmen come in.  
  
"Hi," Carmen said, placing her books on her neat bedside table.  
  
"What? Oh, hi, Carmen." She turned around. "What's new?"  
  
"Nothing. Err, is there anything wrong?"  
  
"Oh, no. Everything's just fine," she sighed. "Andrew asked me to the ball."  
  
"You don't seem to happy about it," Carmen speculated, sitting down next to her. "Isn't that what you wanted?"  
  
"Yeah, well - I just don't know exactly what I want anymore," she shifted her gaze once more to outside the window.  
  
The door opened and Morgan came into the room, twirling a strand of hair around one finger. That's what she always did when she was impatient. She plopped down on her bed with a loud, "Humph," and fell backward onto the mattress.  
  
"Something wrong?" Lily asked.  
  
"No, nothing," Morgan answered, though it didn't seem like she was telling the whole truth.  
  
"So, how's life?" Lily asked Carmen, not willing for the focus to shift back to her.  
  
"Alright. Things are just all scrambled at the moment."  
  
"Are you okay? Still worried about your parents?" Lily asked.  
  
"I'm fine. A little shaken still, but hopefully that will all be over soon, and Voldemort will be caught. My parents told me not to worry." She gave herself a little reassuring nod.  
  
"Is there anything else bothering you?" Lily asked, sensing something. "Sirius?"  
  
"Well, actually - yes," Carmen sighed. "I know that this is going to seem miniscule compared to my family problems, but when is Sirius going to ask me to the ball?" she said, shaking her head.  
  
"He hasn't asked you yet?" Morgan asked, sitting up. "Aren't you two still going out?"  
  
"Of course we are, but I am a little worried."  
  
"Don't worry, Carm, he'll ask you soon enough," Lily said, returning her gaze to the window.  
  
"You know how stubborn guys can be," Morgan said, rolling her eyes. "But you two are so sweet together," she added.  
  
"I really care about him. Just so much. I can't imagine what it would be like without him." She leaned her head back against the cool stone wall and bit her lip. "I don't want things to ever change."  
  
***  
  
It was the Saturday before the last week of the semester. All of the students were hoping for a short break before a long day of studying for last minute tests, and it came in the form of a Hogsmeade visit.  
  
A crowd of couples was grouped around the stone gates at the entrance to the school. Nearly all of them were wearing scarves and hats since the first snow had been several days before.  
  
Not among the students, however, were Sirius and Carmen. They were just coming down from the front steps, arm in arm. Instead of crossing the frozen grounds that led to Hogsmeade, they turned left and disappeared along the castle. There was a stone walkway that was covered in lightly frosted ivy. At the end of the path was a beech tree with a perfect view of the lake in front of them. It was their favorite place to be together.  
  
Carmen took out her wand and said, "Tarevia." Suddenly a small table with tea and cakes appeared in front of them. Sirius looked at it open- mouthed.  
  
"Where did you learn how to do that?" He asked, sitting down on the newly-conjured white bench, looking at the detailed china.  
  
"Just something I picked up," she answered happily, taking a seat next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder.  
  
"You're amazing," he whispered.  
  
They sat together for about an hour talking and laughing. It was perfect. Carmen never felt happier. She felt like crying when she thought about this emotion she was feeling. Though neither of them said it, Sirius felt the same way.  
  
***  
  
Morgan and Remus were walking up the main street of Hogsmeade, looking at the window displays of the shops. Everything was decorated festively in preparation for the season. After all, it was December.  
  
Morgan looked at the other students passing by, laughing and comparing purchased items. There was a set of people sipping butterbeer out of mugs and another pair holding hands. She looked up at Remus and smiled.  
  
"Care for a drink?" she asked. It was getting rather cold.  
  
They entered the extremely crowded Three Broomsticks and took a table in the back. Remus paid for two bottles of butterbeer, and they sat down together.  
  
They began talking and the drinks were soon gone. Both feeling thoroughly pleasant, they got up to leave. Just before they reached the door, however, a rather good looking sixth year Hufflepuff approached Morgan.  
  
"Hi, Morgan. Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the ball with me next weekend."  
  
Her face fell. "Oh, erm, no thanks," she said as politely as she could. She gave him a small smile and looked sideways at Remus who looked extremely uncomfortable.  
  
They got out into the cold air again, and turned up a deserted street. It had begun to snow softly. Morgan turned to him and said, "I'm sorry about that, Remus. So many people have been asking me out lately."  
  
"Err, and have you said yes to any of them yet?" Remus asked. He was surprised that he even had enough breathe left in his lungs to say those few words.  
  
"Well, no. I was kind of hoping for this one guy to ask me." She stopped and turned to him. The wind wept at them and her long, snow-filled hair flew about her face.  
  
He could do this. Heart leaping out of his chest, he took a deep breath and said, "Morgan, would you like to go to the ball with me?"  
  
Feeling as though she would burst, she flung her arms around his neck and whispered, "Yes, yes, I would love to go with you."  
  
***  
  
An hour and a half after most of the school entered the village, Sirius and Carmen walked through the winged-boar gates.  
  
"So, where to first?" Carmen asked, looking around at the shops.  
  
"Anywhere. You pick," Sirius answered.  
  
"I do actually need a new quill," Carmen said, spotting Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop at the end of the street.  
  
They walked to the door, which Sirius held open. "Be my guest," he said.  
  
Though it was only a shop for quills and parchment, the small room was flanked with students. Carmen slowly made her way to the far end of the room where boxes of quills were lined up. Sirius squeezed past students and tables, following her.  
  
"Carmen," he said over the noise. "There's something that I wanted to ask you."  
  
"Pardon?" Carmen asked trying to hear him over a group of giggling girls next to them.  
  
"There's something I want to - you know what?" he said, tired of yelling over the racket. "I'll just see you outside."  
  
Carmen nodded to him, and he began to fight his way out of the small building.  
  
Once outside, he breathed deeply, a mist rising from his mouth. He decided he would ask her to the ball. He, honestly, didn't know why he put it off for so long. He supposed it was because he assumed that they would naturally go together since they were seeing each other, but he felt that he should ask Carmen. But he wanted to tell her more than that. There was so much he wanted to say. 'She's perfect,' he thought, 'she's wonderful, she's beautiful, she's fun, and - I'm falling in love.'  
  
He blew into his hands. It was getting rather cold. He looked up and saw Carmen's smiling face in the window, attempting to get to the doorway. He grinned.  
  
In an alley just behind him stood two figures wearing green and silver scarves. They both had bright blond hair. "Here she comes," one of them said. "Go now."  
  
Sally walked out from the shadows and with a sweep of her hair, headed straight toward Sirius. Shoulders back, she said, "Hi, Sirius." Reaching up, she put her hand on the back of his head, and pulled his lips to hers.  
  
She wouldn't pull away from him. Wanting to get all she could from it, she put her arm around his shoulder and kissed more fiercely. She sent a piercing stare out of the corner of her eye.  
  
Sirius was stunned. For a moment, he didn't know what to do. It was all so sudden, but this definitely wasn't right. 'Carmen,' he thought. Heart pounding, he pulled her away as fast as he could and just stared open- mouthed at Sally.  
  
Sally took a step back and crossed her arms. With a smirk on her face she raised her eyebrows and stole a glance to her right.  
  
Carmen was standing just in front of the quill shop with a look of shock and panic on her face. She looked as though she was about to cry. She couldn't breathe.  
  
'Oh, God,' Sirius said to himself, his stomach plummeting horribly.  
  
Carmen turned away and ran up street into the swirling white mist.  
  
~*~ Oh, no! So sad! I hate Sally and the other git. Grr. Next chapter is almost done. So, review. *walks away crying* Just review. 


	16. Chapter 15: Tears

Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters. I also don't own the snitch; while it is a very important aspect of any HP story, it is sadly nowhere in this chapter.  
  
Dedication: To everyone who hates Sally right now. Grr...  
  
~*~Thank you for all of my reviews: Spaced Out Space Cadet, HP Disorder, and AngelicPyro. I love them. Oh, for those of you who don't know, I began writing this before OotP came out, so many things, such as Remus being prefect, are not included in my story. Thank you for your patience at this very difficult time. Now let's read!  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 15: Tears  
  
"Carmen!" Sirius called through the crowd. "Carmen!" She was gone. He rounded on Sally who was still standing in place, her arms folded, and a pleased look on her face. "What the hell was that?" he roared.  
  
"Oh, come on, Sirius, what's a little kiss between friends?" she said, smirking.  
  
"Damn!" Sirius yelled, turning away from her and running up the street. Blood was rushing to his head. He had to find Carmen. He didn't know what he would tell her - explain that that wasn't his fault and nothing happened. He just had to find her. He wouldn't think of what would happen if he couldn't.  
  
He ran through the gathering of people in the middle of the street who all turned to look at him curiously as he ran by. He didn't care, though. Only one thing mattered in his mind.  
  
When he reached the gate to the entrance of Hogwarts, he craned his neck in search of her brown hair. Finally, he spotted her running through the distant oak front doors. Panic was rushing through his mind as he raced after her figure.  
  
He tore through the entrance hall. When he reached the marble staircase, he grasped the banister, gasping for breath. Where would she go? The library? He set off and reached it within a minute. He burst open the doors and looked around wildly. "Carmen?" he yelled.  
  
Madame Katherine, the librarian, came bustling up to him with an extremely cross look on her face. "What do you think you are doing?" she hissed. "Bringing chocolate into the library last week was bad enough, but -"  
  
"Is Carmen here?" Sirius asked, heart racing.  
  
"No, I haven't seen her all day. Now about all of this -"  
  
But Sirius didn't have time to hear what this was all about because he ran right out the doors, not bothering to apologize to Madame Katherine. If Carmen wasn't in the library, surly she went up to the Gryffindor Tower. If she wasn't there, he didn't know where else he'd look.  
  
"Fairy lights," he gasped, reaching the portrait of the fat lady. It swung open. He ran to the staircase at end of the common room just in time to hear the slam of a door above him.  
  
"Carmen!" Sirius yelled, running up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, but an instant later, the stones melted into a solid shoot. He fell on his chest and slid the rest of the way down until he skidded on the carpet. He sat down with he knees up against his chest and pressed his fists up against his forehead. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the stone wall. He didn't know what would happen next.  
  
***  
  
Carmen ran up the staircase leading to the girl's dormitory unable to breath. Her head was spinning. This wasn't happening. No, it couldn't. Things were so perfect this morning, yet here she was, tears streaming down her face. She got to the landing of the staircase, opened the door and slammed it behind her. She stumbled to her four poster and grasped one of the posts, leaning her head upon it. She didn't know if she could take this. First her parents leave her and now this. She had kept her emotions about her parents hidden before, but she didn't know how she could conceal the pain that was now ripping through her heart. She had truly loved Sirius, and in an instant, her world was turned upside down.  
  
***  
  
"Sirius?"  
  
Sirius looked up from his position on the floor. James, Remus, Morgan, and Lily were all standing over him with curious looks on their faces. How long had he been just sitting there, waiting? He looked at an old grandfather clock across the room. Five o'clock. Surly everyone was starting to come back from Hogsmeade.  
  
"Sirius?" James repeated. "What's up?"  
  
Sirius jumped to his feet feeling a little shaken. "I don't know how it happened," he blurted out speaking a mile a minute. "But there we were outside the quill shop, and there was Sally and - and then Carmen started running away - tried library - then came here - fell - and - Carmen -"  
  
"Hold on, now. What's wrong?" Remus asked, his brow furrowed with concern.  
  
"Carmen's up there crying because of this stupid thing that happened and I tried to find her to tell her that it wasn't my fault, and - and -" He closed his eyes and, in frustration, gripped his hair with both fists.  
  
Lily, extremely disturbed at Sirius's bizarre behavior, said quickly, "Don't worry; we'll go talk to her." She nodded to Morgan and they walked up the staircase.  
  
Two clinks were heard as the door opened and slid back into place. Sirius crossed to the fireplace and sat down on one of the couches, not removing his hands from his head.  
  
"What exactly happened?" said James's voice from his right.  
  
Sirius finally put his fist down and leaned his elbows upon his knees. "I don't know exactly. I was standing outside of the quill shop in Hogsmeade waiting for Carmen. I needed to tell her something really important, and Sally came out of nowhere and started kissing me. I pulled away, but Carmen saw. She saw, and - I don't know what to do."  
  
James and Remus looked at each other. "Don't worry, we'll get everything straightened out," Remus said reassuringly.  
  
They sat in silence as they waited for the girls to come back down. An extremely long and tense half an hour later, Morgan tromped down the staircase, Lily behind her. Immediately, Sirius turned around and stood up. Morgan marched right to him, and shoved him hard in the chest, her arms flailing about. Sirius was stunned.  
  
"How could you do that to Carmen?" she screamed. "She's up there crying her eyes out! You know, she really cared about you, and she was having family troubles, too! So you decide to ignore that all -"  
  
"Calm down, Morgan," Lily insisted. "I'm sure there's something that we haven't heard, yet." She pulled her away from Sirius. Morgan crossed her arms and scowled at the floor. "What happened?"  
  
So he explained his story all over again. When he finished, Morgan's face fell and she said, "Oh."  
  
Sirius looked from her to Lily. "Why? What did she think happened?"  
  
"Well," Lily began tentatively, "what she understands is that you two were talking, then she went into a shop, and when she came out, you were kissing your old girlfriend."  
  
"But, it's not like that!" Sirius yelled. "She kissed me, I didn't kiss her!"  
  
"I understand, Sirius, but that's what she saw. I'll go talk to her again." Without anything more said, she and Morgan trudged up the stairs once again. Sirius fell backward into his seat and sighed, exasperated. Why did things have to be so complicated?  
  
They came back downstairs much sooner than the last time. Once again, Sirius rose from his seat. "Well?" he asked when they didn't say anything.  
  
"She didn't want to listen to us," Morgan said, shaking her head. "And she said she won't come down."  
  
"My best bet would be to let her calm down tonight, and try to talk to her in the morning," Lily told him.  
  
"Okay," Sirius said, heat rising in his neck. He could wait, couldn't he? Surly she would be more open to talk to him tomorrow.  
  
But she wasn't. In fact he barely saw her all day. She didn't come down for any of her meals, though Sirius looked up and down the Gryffindor table nearly every two minutes. Of course she didn't miss her classes. Nothing could make her do that. But she now sat in the back with her head down. She didn't raise her hand or participate at all like she normally did. She remained silent. The teachers did seem to notice that something was going on.  
  
After each class he had with her, Sirius attempted to speak to Carmen, began to say her name, but each time, she managed to disappear into the crowd of students. No one seemed to be able to talk to her. This went on until the end of the week. Everyone was starting to worry.  
  
That night, in the girl's dormitory, however, Lily found Carmen sitting on the window seat Lily, herself, was sitting on just a few days ago. Carmen was looking fixedly out of the window at an invisible something somewhere above the distant trees.  
  
Lily approached her with a worried glance. "Carmen?" she asked. Carmen remained silent, looking out of the window. "Carmen, I know how you're feeling right now - horrible." She sat down in a small velvet colored chair next to her. "But there's something that you should really know. Sirius -"  
  
"Honestly, Lily, I don't want to hear it," Carmen whispered, still gazing blankly out of the window. "I can't. You don't know how hard this is." She swallowed and looked up at her. "I loved him. It's not like the puppy love that every boyfriend and girlfriend talk about without thinking. This was real." Lily remained silent. She had never heard Carmen talking like this. "I really thought that we had something special, and - that he might have loved me, too."  
  
"Carmen -" Lily began, but Carmen interrupted her.  
  
"I know that you're only trying to help, but I need to handle this on my own. I'll be alright."  
  
"We care about you, you know," Lily said, getting up. "All of us. Don't forget that."  
  
Lily left the girl's dormitory and did not return until past midnight. She couldn't face Carmen when she was so miserable. Lily knew that Carmen had to know the truth, but Carmen needed to get a hold of herself first.  
  
***  
  
Sirius, Lily, Morgan, James, and Remus got a big surprise the next morning. At breakfast, they were sitting at the end of the Gryffindor table when Carmen walked into the Great Hall. And she was smiling.  
  
"Hi, everyone," she said cheerfully. There was stillness. Everyone looked around at each other. "Well?" she asked expectedly, sitting down.  
  
"Hi," they muttered, still slightly shocked.  
  
"Hmmm, I'm starved," she said, pulling a plate toward her. "So, have you all finished that essay for Professor Kirk?" she asked, beginning to butter a piece of toast.  
  
"Err, Carmen?" Sirius said hesitantly.  
  
Carmen gave him a piercing stare before looking away. She said coldly, "I finished last night. It wasn't that hard. I'm sure I'll get a decent grade on it. An E at least."  
  
"Erm, Carmen, are you alright?" James asked looking skeptical.  
  
"Of course," she answered in the manner of explaining that one plus one equals two. "Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
Sirius leaned over the table to her. "Listen, can we talk?" he asked quietly.  
  
Carmen acted like she hadn't heard him and looked down at her watch. "Oh," she exclaimed, getting up. "It's nearly eight. I wanted to get some studying done. I'll see you in class. Bye." She stood up and gave them a last cheerful glance.  
  
The others stared dumbstruck and watched her walk out of the hall. She seemed perfectly normal.  
  
"Something's wrong," Remus said at once.  
  
Sirius leapt up off the bench without a word and followed her out. The four left stole nervous glances to each other.  
  
***  
  
Carmen was watching the sun set outside of the window in the girl's dormitory the night before. They had done that together once. God, everything reminded her of him. 'Why, why, why do things have to be so complicated?' she asked herself. She wiped away a salty tear that trickled down her face. There was this empty feeling inside of her that would just not go away.  
  
She looked down at her watch. She had been sitting there for hours. That was where she had been whenever she wasn't in classes. She couldn't stand being around with people when she felt like crying at any mention of him.  
  
There was no one else in the dormitory. She walked unconcernedly to her four poster. There was a mountain of homework on her nightstand. She couldn't keep this up. She had too many responsibilities. She frowned. So what if Sirius didn't want to be with her? She didn't need him in the slightest.  
  
Carmen sat down on her bed and pulled several books toward her at once. She glanced at her nightstand again and saw the picture of Sirius and the others staring back at her. Apathy amounting, she reached over and snapped the frame face down upon the table and opened a book.  
  
***  
  
The next day when Carmen exited the Great Hall, she couldn't feel anything. She didn't feel guilt or pleasure about being so cool to Sirius. The sensation of emptiness increased, but she didn't know it.  
  
Flipping her hair back, she extended a hand toward the banister of the marble staircase. As soon as she felt the coolness of the wood, another hand touched the back of hers. "Leave me alone," she said automatically before turning around, but when she did, it wasn't the person who she expected it to be. It was Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"Sorry, Carmen. I'll just go," he said.  
  
"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else," she muttered, highly embarrassed.  
  
"So, I hear that you and Sirius broke up," he said, leaning coolly against a nearby wall.  
  
"And where did you hear that?" Carmen asked letting her shoulders droop.  
  
"Word travels fast around Hogwarts," he shrugged. "So, that invitation is still open for the ball. I'd love to take you." He winked.  
  
"That's very nice of you, Lucius, but -" she suddenly noticed Sirius coming toward her from the Great Hall. He stopped as soon as he saw her with Malfoy. She gave him one last cold look and flipped her hair again. "I'd love to go to the ball with you, Lucius," she said, stressing the words.  
  
He offered her his arm, and, putting her shoulders back, she accepted it gracefully. Together they disappeared up the marble staircase.  
  
Sirius stood, rooted to the spot. 'Damn,' he thought as he came to his senses. 'Damn, damn, damn! What does she think she's doing with Malfoy? Doesn't she know that he's trouble? Fine,' he thought, glowering. 'If she doesn't want to listen to me, she can go off snogging Malfoy. That's her choice.' He pushed open the great oak doors in his rage and tromped out into the grounds.  
  
~*~ Okay. Before you say anything, please try to understand how Carmen feels at the moment. She's still a good person, just a little confused. It's very sad, I know. Well, time to review! Love, Carmen 


	17. Chapter 16: Broken Friendships

Disclaimer: Don't own stuff. You might, though.  
  
Dedication: To all of my reviewers who aren't giving up on this story.  
  
~*~After an extremely long absence (that I am extremely sorry for) I am back with an extra long chapter for you. I hope it's okay. Please don't give up on this story, for I will never.  
  
THE RAIN ALWAYS FALLS  
  
Chapter 16: Broken Friendships  
  
"Malfoy?" Lily whispered in disbelief. "It can't be possible."  
  
"Well, apparently it is," Sirius answered in a deep monotone voice. He was slumped into an armchair in the common room. His glazed eyes were fixed on a small stain on the carpet. Lily, Morgan, James, and Remus were all seated around him, homework long forgotten, horrified at the news they have just received.  
  
"What does she think she's playing at?" James said, looking disgusted. "I mean...it's...Malfoy."  
  
"There must be some mistake," Morgan said, shaking her head slightly. "You must have heard wrong, or something."  
  
Sirius swallowed. A familiar numb sensation spread through his upper body. "I know what I heard." Shifting uncomfortably, he slid down a few more inches into his seat as if he could disappear from the world into the depths of the velvet cushions.  
  
"Look," Morgan said, outright. "This is Carmen we're talking about. She wouldn't do this. It's just not like her."  
  
"She's been doing a lot of things that aren't like her lately," Remus answered. "Ever since –" he paused and shifted his gaze toward Sirius.  
  
"Go ahead, say it," Sirius barked through the silence. "Ever since that thing with Sally, I've been on her curse list." Remus wasn't sure how to answer.  
  
"Well, honestly, seeing your boyfriend kissing another girl isn't exactly flattering. What did you expect?" Lily sighed.  
  
"Oh, so this is my fault?"  
  
"No, that's not what I'm saying at all!"  
  
"I couldn't do anything about it! She's the one that had overreacted and get all emotional! I didn't do anything!"  
  
"Sirius," Lily began, "she doesn't know what she saw. If only you'd talk to her and make her see –"  
  
"I'm not forcing her to do anything."  
  
"Then what are you going to do about it?"  
  
Sirius merely scowled at her.  
  
"She won't listen to me and Morgan. We've tried," she said firmly. "Sirius, she needs to hear what happened from you. Not me, not James. You." There was an uneasy stillness. Sirius tensed and stood up quickly. He stomped up the stairs to his dormitory, leaving the hateful mist in the room downstairs. Lily, however, stood, shaking.  
  
"Do you want to know why she's so mad at you?" She called up the stairs. The footsteps stopped. "She cares for you. She cares for you so much that it hurts. She thought you broke her heart. You're not like that. She knows it. You just need to show her!" Her words echoed through the empty common room. After a few seconds, the footsteps on the staircase continued as if nothing had happened. Lily took one step forward, fully intending to follow and smack some reason into him if she had to, but stopped when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.  
  
"Let him go," a soft voice whispered. She turned slowly and looked at James. A strange emotion swept through her. She grasped James's hand, still on her shoulder, hoping that everything would turn out right in the end.  
  
***  
  
She cares for you so much that it hurts. The words echoed through Sirius's mind. She thought you broke her heart. Without realizing what he was doing, his feet carried him to the edge of his bed, and his eyes wandered to the floor. Somehow Lily's words had let loose a whole new wave of emotions. He didn't quite know how he felt, but the anger he possessed in the common room had evaporated  
  
In the past – before any of this had every happened – he loved Carmen. It wasn't just some adolescent phase. It was real. 'Reach for the stars' 'I'd do anything for you' kind of love. But those feelings had never been for him. His parents loathed him and so did his brother. Yet, now there was someone who may have loved him back. She cares for you so much that it hurts...She thought you broke her heart...  
  
He felt something tighten in his chest. He was suddenly sorry for everything that had happened, wildly blaming himself and making new promises the he didn't know if he would ever be able to fulfill. All he knew was that he had to have her back.  
  
***  
  
That night, Sirius vowed to talk to Carmen the next day. The following morning, he woke when the sun rose and waited for hours in the common room – but she never came down. He was on the verge of taking his broom and flying up to her window when Morgan and Lily came down the stairs. Not seeing Sirius, they ambled over to the portrait hole to go down to breakfast.  
  
"Hey," Sirius said, getting up and catching them when they pulled the painting open. "Could you run up and tell Carmen to come down?"  
  
"Oh, she's not there," Morgan said, looking concerned. "I haven't seen her since last night. Why – how long have you been waiting for her?"  
  
"She's not there?" Sirius echoed. "Look, I need to talk to her. Did she say anything to you last night?"  
  
"Not that I remember," Lily replied, biting her lip. "You know, she probably got up early to study or something. Why don't you come down and have breakfast with us? I bet she's already there," Lily said, hoping rather than believing that her words were true.  
  
Sirius nodded and proceeded with them to the Great Hall, stomach turning with anxiousness all the while. When they walked through the great doors, Sirius's eyes instantly darted to the Gryffindor table. He scanned through each group of people, yet Carmen was nowhere to be found.  
  
Dispirited, Sirius sat down at the end of the table, his back toward the rest of the students. "I don't get it. Where is she?" he muttered. There was an uncomfortable feeling inside him. He knew that he needed to talk to Carmen before things got out of hand. But where would she be? The library perhaps?  
  
"Oh, my," Lily whispered from across from him. Sirius jerked his head upright and saw that Lily was gaping in horror at a point across the hall. Sirius wheeled around and almost fell off his seat at what he saw. Amidst a large groups of students at the Slytherin table, seated right next to Malfoy was –  
  
"Carmen?" Morgan gasped bewildered. "She wouldn't – " But it seemed as though she had. Looking perfectly content, and chatting happily with the others around her was Carmen. Malfoy wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned closer to whisper something to her. Sirius felt his face grow hot. He had to leave. As he stood, so did Morgan. She grabbed his arm. "Sirius, wait –"  
  
He wrenched himself free from her grasp and turned to leave, his jaw set. Just before he tramped out of the hall, Carmen caught sight of him. She watched him for a moment, then came to her senses, glanced down, and smiled at someone across from her.  
  
Sirius could feel himself shaking in the hall. Who did Malfoy think he was? And what was Carmen doing with the Slytherins? Didn't she know what kind of people they were?  
  
He heard quick footsteps behind him. 'Carmen?' he thought instantly. Hopefully, he turned around, only to be met with great disappointment. That and Sally. She looked as though she had just sprinted out of the hall. A piece of platinum blond hair got stuck on the side of her brightly colored lips. She hastily tugged the lock away and flicked her hair back.  
  
"So, Sirius," she said, catching her breath. "I guess the thing's over between you and Carmen."  
  
"Well, that's what you think," he replied dully. He didn't quite feel like discussing his social life with the one who started this whole mess.  
  
"Yeah? You know, she looked pretty cozy sitting in there with Lucius." Sirius didn't say anything. She smirked. "So seeing as you don't seem to be going out with anyone, what do you say we go to the ball together?"  
  
Sirius stared at her, dumbfounded. "This is what you were after all along, isn't it? You wanted Carmen to hate me, so – so I'd go out with you again? It was all part of some twisted plot." Sally just looked at him and smirked again. "Well, fat chance, Sally. Never again! You hear me? I don't want your foul face anywhere near me! For all I care, you can jump into the lake and sink to the bottom! I'll be lucky if I never see you again!" Sirius looked at her in pure disgust. "You make me sick." He shook his head and stomped off the stairs, leaving Sally openmouthed at the base of the steps.  
  
***  
  
It was the day before the grand ball, and one could almost taste the excitement that was thick in the air. It was hard for anyone not to have high spirits with the state of the castle. Enormous Christmas trees the size of houses stood in each corner, every corridor was wafted with the mouth-watering smell of turkey, and live fairies flew in and out of the classrooms, tossing pixie dust onto passing students.  
  
Newly formed couples were seen walking hand and hand in the halls, perhaps inspired by the romantic atmosphere. Among them were Remus and Morgan who, when they weren't in the library, could be found sitting together by the fire in the common room late at night, Morgan's head resting on his shoulder. Their fondness for each other had grown immensely. They were truly happy.  
  
However, not everyone shared in their good fortune. Sirius, for one, was furious with Sally who could be seen moping through the halls, on the verge of tears. It seemed as though she finally realized it was over between her and Sirius, but that didn't make him loathe her any less. On top of that, Sirius still had not talked to Carmen, though it wasn't for a lack of trying. Lily's words had not left him, but she seemed extremely hard to come by lately, being the first to rise, the last to go up to bed, avoiding the common room, and eating meals with the Slytherins. She seemed so distant from all of the Gryffindors and would no longer even speak with Lily and Morgan.  
  
Through all of the chaos, Lily and Andrew were still seeing each other, as were James and Natalie. That afternoon, James and Natalie were seated, talking in the courtyard under unusually warm sunlight. They were discussing – or rather James was listening to Natalie explain both her anxiety over the last few tests the teachers felt the need to pop up on them and whether or not she'd pass all of her O.W.L.s. "They're what's going to decide our future! If I don't get at least eight, there go my dreams of ever becoming a curse-breaker. Last year, I heard that Pipper Katz. . ."  
  
James gazed out upon the courtyard. It was true that they hadn't really gotten together much lately what with the confusion of the last few days before winter holiday, but James felt that he just couldn't concentrate on anything at the moment. In fact, he had been feeling like that a lot lately. Although he liked Natalie a great deal and enjoyed spending time with her, he found that he was happier when he was in the company of Sirius, Remus, Morgan, and Lily. Lily. Just thinking that name made his chest swell and made him long for some unknown something. But what? He was pretty sure he knew what – or rather who it was.  
  
His eyes wandered to a window that's corners were lightly frosted. However, the silver mist didn't distort the image behind it – one of a girl with bright red hair who was talking animatedly to a boy next to her. James felt a slight pang in his stomach.  
  
"Everyone said they fixed her ears back on in the end, but I just couldn't imagine – James?" Natalie paused noticing that he was obviously no longer listening to her. She looked to the place where James was absentmindedly gazing and her face fell as she saw who was beyond the glass.  
  
***  
  
Lily and Andrew were walking through the Charms corridor, a stone wall separating them from the courtyard. They had just come from a late lunch and had decided to go for a stroll through the castle.  
  
"The house elves have really outdone themselves this year," Lily said, gazing at the long lines of holy that hung across the ceiling. She smiled. "I love the holidays. Everything is so cheerful and bright."  
  
"Me, too," Andrew said. "It reminds me of home. Everyone being jolly and cheerful. Of course, we have none of these at my house." He gestured at a suit of armor.  
  
A voice from inside it said, "Merry – " and then paused as if it couldn't remember what came next.  
  
"Christmas?" Lily said helpfully.  
  
"Yes, thank you, lass." It bowed. "Merry Christmas."  
  
The pair suppressed their laughter until they were well out of earshot of the knight because, as Lily pointed out, "You never know when one of them has feelings you might hurt."  
  
"They spent the rest of the day together wandering through the school talking about anything they could think of. After they had dinner at their respected tables, Andrew walked Lily up to the Gryffindor tower, made plans to meet her in the entrance hall before the ball the next day, and said goodnight.  
  
Lily said the password ("Sparrowfeild") and began to make her way to her dormitory. She knew that she had a very lovely day with Andrew, yet something didn't feel quite right, like she was missing something. She shook off the feeling and climbed the steps leading to her room. Upon reaching it, she saw that Morgan was sprawled across her bed, flipping through a photo album. "Hi," Morgan said, looking up. "Have a nice time?"  
  
"Yes," Lily replied, sitting on the edge of her bed. She glanced around. "Carmen hasn't come up yet?"  
  
Morgan sighed and closed her book. "No. It's like I haven't seen her for ages. I wish she and Sirius could have been together without someone trying to screw it all up. None of this would have happened."  
  
"Well, at least you and Remus are happy," Lily said, leaning back onto her bed.  
  
"And you're not?"  
  
"Of course I am," she replied. "Who ever said I wasn't?"  
  
"Have you ever thought about how you would feel if you were with James?" Morgan asked, once again absentmindedly flipping through he pages of her album.  
  
"James?" Lily repeated, sitting up. "You think that me and James – " she paused as her forgotten dreams of them together pushed themselves into her mind. As Carmen was acting this way, they had never found the true meaning of them. She shook her head firmly. "It would never work."  
  
"Why not?" Morgan asked. "What makes it so impossible."  
  
Lily opened and closed her mouth several times, not able to decide on something to say.  
  
Morgan smiled. "You see?"  
  
"Look," Lily said finally, "I have a boyfriend, and I'm perfectly happy with the way things are now. Why shouldn't I be?" Morgan shrugged and turned a page. After a moment, Lily spoke again. "Morgan?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Are you really happy with Remus?"  
  
Morgan looked up. "I've never felt this way before. For the first time, I have someone who really cares about me, and is interested in what I have to say. I've never felt better."  
  
Lily turned away, a voice in her head whispering, "I'd like to have that someday, too."  
  
~*~ Okay next chapter is the ball. Does anyone think that I was mean enough to Sally? Somehow I feel that Sirius should have cursed her, but I honestly don't think that he'd do that. Okay, so please, please, please review! I need it! Oh, and if anyone is interested, I wrote a really cute one-shot called 'Hermione's Toast' that I think a lot of you would like. Lots of love, Carmen 


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